ᓱᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓱᓇ
SHUVINAI ASHOONA
ᓱᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓱᓇ
SHUVINAI ASHOONA
1961-present
Inuit
Kinngait, Qikiqtaaluk [Baffin Island]
Nunavut, Canada
Graphic Arts
Shuvinai Ashoona is one of Kinngait's most vibrant rising stars. A 3rd generation artist who has gained recent international popularity, she is known for her bold and thought provoking depictions of life in the arctic.
Shuvinai was born in Kinngait in 1961. Her father was a skilled hunter and master carver who gained international recognition as a sculptor during his lifetime and who himself was the youngest son of the great first-generation Inuit graphic artist Pitseolak Ashoona. Her mother, Sorosilutu Ashoona was also a skilled artist in her own right.
Shuvinai began drawing in 1996 and primarily works in pen, ink, pencil and oil stick but is also known for her prints which showcase her finely layered sensitivity to the world around her. Her monumental drawings are often visually complex and highly detailed landscapes that challenge the existence of borders between what we may see as natural or supernatural worlds. Such drawings are often cinematic in composition, depicting scenes as if hovering from above or in hyper focus, creating a dreamlike yet starkly emotive and intimate view. As well as reimagining stories from Inuit oral tradition in new fantastical works, she also focuses on reflecting the transformations that arctic colonialism and climate change have and continue to bring to the lives of her community and the landscapes of her home.
Shuvinai has taken part in several notable exhibitions including Three Woman, Three Generations in 1999 alongside her grandmother Pitseolak Ashoona and her aunt Napachie Pootoogook. Her work can be seen in national and international collections and galleries including the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilisation and at Canada House in London.
Her work has featured in Art Basel and at several International Biennale's including Sydney in 2012, Venice in 2022 and Gwangju in 2023. She is also the subject of a documentary art film called, Ghost Noise (2010), produced and directed by Marcia Connolly. In 2024 she was granted the Governor General of Canada's Artistic Achievement Award.
