Shuvinai Ashoona

The daughter of the well-known sculptor Kiawak Ashoona and granddaughter of the late Pitseolak Ashoona, the great graphic artist Shuvinai Ashoona was born in 1961 in Cape Dorset on Baffin Island. Her own career started in the mid-1990s when she began making drawings for the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, in a style that was often startlingly different from other Cape Dorset graphic expression. Ashoona’s reputation as a contemporary Canadian and Indigenous artist has steadily grown over the years, and her works are included in several prominent institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Uncanny, humorous and disquieting, Ashoona’s often dream-like imagery erases the distinctions between the natural and spirit worlds. Many of the artist’s images include fantastical monster-like creatures, while others portray people and planets orbited by a range of beings, both animal and human. Aquatic mammals living in harmonious diversity have long been a recurring motif in Ashoona’s oeuvre, as exemplified by her delightful Untitled (Aquatic Scene), which features a walrus and a pair of seals grazing on geoduck clams along the ocean floor. These animals share the space with sea creatures drawn from the artist’s imagination, including several small fish and an octopus-like creature. Please note: Consignor Hammer Price proceeds of this lot will benefit the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Buyer is hereby advised to read fully the Terms and Conditions of Business and Catalogue Terms, including the Vancouver Art Gallery Art Auction 2021 | Spring Forward HO2 Sale Notice and Special Terms of Sale, and any Addendum or Erratum specific to the Vancouver Art Gallery Art Auction 2021 | Spring Forward HO2 auction.