Janet Kigusiuq

The Inuit artist Janet Kigusiuq (1926-2005) was born in the Back River area near Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut. She is the eldest daughter of Jessie Oonark, one of Baker Lake’s and Canada’s most distinguished artists. Kigusiuq began working as an artist in 1967 and experimented with diverse media over the course of her career, making drawings, fabric wall hangings, stone sculptures and paper collages. Her work was informed by her deep knowledge of traditional Inuit life on the land, as well as Inuit oral histories, and portrays intimate details of the everyday lives of Inuit in camp and in the community. Kigusiuq was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2002 and her work is found in many prominent public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Museum of History and Winnipeg Art Gallery.