ᑭᒥᐊᑕ
KINGMEATA ETIDLOOIE
ᑭᒥᐊᑕ
KINGMEATA ETIDLOOIE
1915-1989
Inuit
Itinik, Qikiqtaaluk [Baffin Island]
Nunavut, Canada
Graphic Arts
Kingmeata Etidlooie was a graphic artists and sculptor who was born in Itinik camp near Lake Harbour in Northwest Territories, Canada. She spend the most of the first half of her life in similar sites along the southwest coast of Qikiqtaaluk [Baffin Island]. She began to carve and draw in the 1950's, after the death of her first husband Elijah. She and her second husband Etidloosie Etidlooie (1910-1981) was also a well known graphic print artists, printmaker, painter and sculptor settled in Kin in the mid 1960's - where they became members West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Many of their children are also sculptors including their grandson.
Over the course of her life she created a large volume of works which centered around a strongly structural, formal style featuring simplified animal and bird motifs. She is best known for her contributions to the advancement of Inuit art through her experimentations with painting. In the late 60's, early 70's she was the first Inuit artist from Kinngait to work with watercolors. Her drawings [which already held a painterly quality] developed to include bold color fields and new textures, skilfully achieved through the mixing of painting, drawing and printmaking techniques. The Painting Studio at Kinngait Studios was established in 1976 and alongside acclaimed artist Pudlo Paulat (1916-1992) she was one of the first artists to make use of it. She remained a committed and enthusiastic user of it until her passing in 1989.
Over the course of her career her work was exhibited widely throughout Canada and the USA. In the 90's in particular, her work began to be shown Internationally with solo and group shows in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Japan. Her artworks are highly collectable, most poignantly for their historic standing within the history of the development of Inuit art and feature in the collections of leading museums and private/public institutions in North America.
