Kananginak
was born in Ikarasak camp near Cape Dorset, where his father was
well known and greatly respected as a camp leader. Until he reached
adulthood, he lived by hunting and fishing with his family on South
Baffin Island. He settled in Cape Dorset for health reasons at the
end of the 50s.
Kananginak
was involved from the beginning in the printshop project in Cape
Dorset. He was an expert bird hunter from childhood, and this became
one of his favourite artistic subjects. Although he had to hunt
birds for survival, he learned very early to love them and observe
their habits. He is very knowledgeable about the many kinds of beautiful
birds that migrate from the South to the Arctic each summer: he
observes them from a distance, attentive to their movements, their
plumage, and their varied songs. Whether he is depicting an owl,
a crow, or a pair of ducks, he renders each in precise detail.
Kananginak
Pootoogook has attained an international reputation for his abilities
as a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the first
in Cape Dorset to actively participate in the first experimental
attempts at fine-art printing introduced to the community by James
Houston in 1957.
Kananginak
continued as a printmaker until 1978, working in all media including
stonecut, stencil, copper engraving, and silkscreen on fabric. Later
he became proficient in lithography including executing his own
drawings directly on the stone. He has established an international
reputation as an artist for his close observation of nature and
his sensitive rendering of animals and birds. For Kananginak Pootoogook,
art - whether his sculptures or his hundreds of drawings and prints
- is a means of keeping his Inuit traditions alive in the face of
tremendous cultural pressures and change. He was elected to the
Royal Canadian Academy in 1980.
"My
father had a projection about the future, perhaps because he was
one of the very first Inuit to lead in a religious way. By reading
the Old and New Testaments he saw clearly outlined that changes
were coming to our part of the world, and my father used to say
some Inuit will become quite wealthy, like the Kabloona is in some
ways, and that is true today. I think there will always be people
who will not be able to really support themselves, and those who
can. Before machines, the Inuit hunted with only harpoons, and in
those days, some Inuit were better hunters than others, so some
were better able to look after their families. I remember very well
that if one of the camps were short of food, that they would be
helped out by wealthier camps. I think this will always be true,
regardless of any cultural changes. ...Many times people look at
me and think I can speak (English), by looking at my face."
Caribou
Family
Kayaker's
Reflection
On
the Lookout
|