Art Pick of the Week: Curiosity

Curiosity (2020), a recent acquisition by the AGO from Art Toronto 2020, is turning heads with its playful fine details and impressive scale. stretching across a wall at 8.7 feet (2.65 metres) wide, the drawing  offers a bird’s eye view of Shuvinai Ashoona’s hometown of Kinngait (Cape Dorset). Upon closer look, you will see seven giant neon and pastel-coloured monsters crawling through the town with great curiosity over buildings and around Inuit figures. You will find this artwork on Level 4 in gallery 402, exhibiting in Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible. 

Curiosity was made during the pandemic and is at a rare, monumental scale for the artist. As the viewer shifts their gaze across the image, they will find elements like an Anglican church, graveyard and roadways placed in a fashion that is almost realistic to where they appear on a map. You may also spot animals peeping through the land, curious for what exists there. A recurring element found is Ashoona’s use of a drawing within a drawing. As you pan your eyes to the right, you’ll see the green monster holding a drawing of a family portrait, similar to her other work, Our Old Picture Was Taken (2019). The more time you spend looking at the artwork, the more you will discover. Tiny text is written on top of buildings. A tribute to the Kenojuak Culture Centre where artists can collaborate is spotlighted in the form of a multilevel building decorated with artworks. A figure resembling Iron Man is situated on the top right corner. 

Best known for her meticulous detailing and use of colours, Ashoona’s process is to start at one part of the blank page and then keep drawing until it is finished. She does not plan or map out her images. They appear as she draws and she goes along on the journey of her imagination. This comes across in Curiosity as you see a mix of pastel and neon monsters, hybrid figures and motifs of worlds in the drawing that lures you in. Depicting a playful, surreal and whimsical look into Ashoona’s community of Kinngait, the work invites open interpretation for what it could be. What are the monsters doing in the town? Are they friendly visitors from another world or are they here for something else? 

To see Curiosity and other amazing works by the third-generation Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona, be sure to visit Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible, curated by Wanda Nanibush, AGO Curator, Indigenous Art. Located on Level 4 in gallery 402.

Stay tuned for our next Art Pick. 

Admission to the AGO Collection and all special exhibitions is always free for AGO Members, AGO Annual Pass holders and visitors 25 and under