TIM PITSIULAK: INUIT ART FROM CAPE DORSET NOTECARD FOLIO

The formation of Kinngait Studios in the late 1950s laid the groundwork for a legendary printmaking tradition. About 1,200 miles north of Toronto, the hamlet of Cape Dorset, Nunavut, is home to a multi-generational community of gifted graphic artists. Their cooperatively owned printmaking studios have been in continual operation since 1959, producing unique, captivating, and powerful images.

The artists of Cape Dorset are active in the studios from fall through late spring. Diverse media are available to the printmakers—etching and aquatint, woodcut, and copper engraving—but their mainstays are stonecut, stencil, and lithography. When the print editions are finished and the fine summer weather arrives, many of the artists leave the community to return to the land and their traditional camps. The Inuit are determined to retain important elements of their culture—their language and stories, their connection to the Arctic and its resources—while adapting to modern ways.

Tim Pitsiulak (1967–2016) began drawing as a child and later learned carving and jewelry making. His drawing style is based on the land and its wildlife. “I am a hunter and I know the land and animals of the north.”

In his later years Pitsiulak’s drawings of boats, planes, and heavy equipment chronicled the everyday modern life of Cape Dorset. His images on the notecards in this set exemplify the renowned Inuit style.

Contains 5 each of the following images: 
Red Walrus, 2016 
Qimaajuq Ukali (Running Rabbit), 2016