Wolf Eyeing a Herd of Caribou
Janet Kigusiuq (c.1926-2005)
Baker Lake, Inuit
Wolf Eyeing a Herd of Caribou
Linocut and stencil on paper
12/25
1988
26 3/4 x 38 1/2
Gift from the Edward J. Guarino Collection
In honor of Elaine Blechman
2008.25.31.
“I would borrow money from my mother to go to the movies…she would say, ‘If you can draw a person you won’t have a hard time getting money for the movies.’” Janet Kigusiuq (Quoted in Lewis 2005, 40).
Kigusiuq, daughter of famous Inuit artist Jessie Oonark, presents a typical Arctic scene in this print. Stenciling technique creates speckled brown color on the caribou’s bodies, while a flat grey hue distinguishes the wolf from the herd. An elevated perspective and an unspecified background create a balanced and tight composition; each of the caribou overlap one another and look in various directions, creating a circular harmony. This print exhibits a tense, but playful, moment when the herd sees the wolf getting closer. This moment may reflect the Inuit belief that animals sacrifice themselves to maintain the balance of life.
The wolf acts as a metaphor for Kigusiuq, who maintains this balance of survival as well. Caribou were Kigusiuq’s main source of sustenance as a young girl until the herds eventually disappeared. Moving to Baker Lake, she joined a co-operative that created and sold stonecut, and later, linocut, prints to an outside audience. Through these means, she supported herself and her family. Kigusiuq applied her experiences and Inuit appliqué techniques, both steeped in Inuit tradition, to the printmaking medium. Becoming an artist meant survival; her art is nourishment for both body and mind. Printmaking may not have indigenous roots in the Arctic, but it maintains indigenous meanings, reflections, and survival.
Tiffany Win