Art Pick of the Week: Fishing in a Rock Dam
Every week we’re sharing one of our favourite artworks for you to see on your next visit to the AGO. Check out this week’s art pick, Fishing in a Rock Dam, by artist Janet Kiqusiuq.
Janet Kigusiuq. Fishing in a Rock Dam, 1981. Linocut and colour stencil on paper, Sheet: 63.9 × 94.7 cm. Gift of Samuel and Esther Sarick, Toronto, 2002. © Public Trustee for Nunavut, Estate of Janet Kigusiuq Uqayuittuq 2002/10566
nce you’ve visited Brian Jungen Friendship Centre on Level 2 in Sam & Ayala Zacks Pavilion, we recommend you take a trip across the hall to Bovey Gallery (Gallery 225) to admire the colourful works of Janet Kigusiuq, including our Art Pick of the Week, Fishing in a Rock Dam.
Kigusiuq was born to celebrated artist Jessie Oonark in the Back River area of Nunavut’s Kivalliq region. Kigusiuq moved to a settlement at Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) in the mid-1950s, but it was her earlier life on the land that provided inspiration for many of her drawings.
Her bright, bold and graphic work on paper typically depicts scenes inspired by camp life – hunting and fishing, and supernatural forms inspired by Inuit spirituality and stories. By capturing memories and stories of time on the land, her work became a form of resistance against forces of colonization and assimilation she encountered.
See this and other works by Kigusiuq on view now until September 29, and stay tuned each week for a new 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. For more information, please visit the website.
