OMALLUQ OSHUSIAQ (1948-2014)

Omalluq Oshusiaq was one of the few female artists who gained international recognition for their carvings. Born in Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in Baffin Island, Nanuvut, Oshusiaq came from prominent artistic family. She was the daughter of artists Etidlooie Etidlooie (1910-1981) and Kingmeata Etidlooie (1915-1989); graphic artists in Kinngait. Oshutsiaq began drawing as a teenager, but her works on paper were never translated into prints for the annual print collections. Oshutsiaq continued to create drawings through the early part of her career, but it is her serpentinite carvings that drew the most attention and in which she was known for.

Oshutsiaq was drawn to figurative depictions of women, particularly mothers, but she also carved transformation scenes and anthropomorphic characters from Inuit mythology. She became well-known for her depictions of women in labour, a theme she explored from the early 1980s to the end of her carving career. Another signature she was known for was intricate details in the parka trims and clothing of her subjects.

In 2013, an accident with a grinder left Oshutsiaq unable to carve. With the encouragement from the Kinngait studio director, Bill Ritchie, she instead turned her efforts back to the media she began exploring almost 50 years before. Her drawings are vivid and personal recollections of her life, including detailed narratives showing the realities of community life. In 2015 the Winnipeg Art Gallery purchased nineteen of her drawings from 2013-2014. 

Oshutsiaq’s husband Simeonie Oshutsiaq (1943-2013), sons Pitseolak and Matheussie Oshutsiaq and daughter Mary Oshutsiaq (1972-2014) were all carvers in Kinngait. Oshutsiaq was a member of the Board of Directors of the Inuit Art Foundation from 1990 to 1993 and her work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Arctic Experience Gallery in 1993. Oshutsiaq’s carvings are widely collected, and her work is included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the National Gallery of Canada and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.