PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Northern California

LITERATURE
Jean Blodgett & Marie Bouchard, Jessie Oonark, A Retrospective, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1986, reproduced page 96
Bernadette Driscoll, The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood to be Full, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1980, reproduced catalogue #89

It is well known that Oonark was particularly interested in the different styles of clothing from across the Arctic, as seen in a number of her works, like "Big Woman" (1974) and "Woman" (1970). In "Inland Eskimo Woman", the detailed rendering of a traditional Western woman’s amauti, designed to carry a child, reflects the importance of these garments in Inuit society. Featuring a greatly elongated hood and dramatic, broad shoulders, these elements serve not only as decorative features but as symbols that convey the significant role of woman as nurturers and protectors.

Oonark conceived of this dramatic image in 1959, years before her own community’s print program would begin in 1970. Working with printer Eegyvudluk Pootoogook in the Cape Dorset print shop, this image, along with her print "Tattooed Faces", were chosen to be included in the 1960 and 1961 catalogues, the only work by a non-local to ever be published.

Printmaker: Eegyvudluk Pootoogook (1931-1999)

Please note: the full sheet size is 23 3/4 x 12 3/8 inches.

Please note: this work is matted but unframed.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars