donatefr

Shuvinai Ashoona:
Re-Imagining the World


Curated by Nancy G. Campbell

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a blond-haired man in a green parka standing with his arms raised and his mouth open in alarm as fantastical orange and grey octopi grab his legs. Below him, an oblivious photographer focuses his lens on small dancing creatures before him.

Shuvinai Ashoona has gained international recognition for work that straddles the worlds of contemporary art and Inuit art. A third-generation Inuk artist living in Kinngait, Nunavut, she is celebrated for her large-scale drawings, enigmatic subject matter, and collaborative projects with contemporary artists. Influenced by the place she lives, the people she works with, the world she takes in through the media, and her imagination, Shuvinai’s work overturns stereotypical notions of Inuit art. For more on Shuvinai Ashoona read Nancy G. Campbell’s Shuvinai Ashoona: Life & Work.



About the Curator: Dr. Nancy G. Campbell

Dr. Nancy G. Campbell has been an independent curator of contemporary and Inuit art since 1993 and is currently a guest curator at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Dr. Campbell has worked for other institutions including The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre at the University of Guelph.



Banner Image: Shuvinai Ashoona, Composition (Attack of the Tentacle Monsters), 2015, fineliner pen and coloured pencil on paper, 96.5 x 123 cm, Collection of Paul and Mary-Dailey Desmarais. Photo credit: Toni Hafkenscheid.

Gallery

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a sculpture-like object with a woman's head and several limbs placed at unnatural angles. Several sticks jut out from the limbs and balance small weights from strings.

Discombobulated Woman, 1995–96

Black and white illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona made of several connected large sheets of paper. It shows a bird’s-eye view of the hamlet of Kinngait (Cape Dorset) and features houses, power lines, and roads.

Composition (Overlooking Cape Dorset), 2003

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of three women with short black hair holding up artwork on paper in front of them. The left artwork is of a woman with blue eyes, the middle is a green fishhead, and the right is a pair of scissors (with only the handle visible).

Three Cousins, 2005

Black and white illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a bird nest mostly made of feathers and built on rocks. Two duck eggs are in the nest with English text, Inuktitut syllabics, and symbols drawn on their shells.

Composition (Egg in Landscape), 2006

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of two men, one with walrus-like tusks and the other with an anemone-like beard, struggle with limbs intertwined. A tree stump wraps a long branch around them while a perching tarantula looks on.

Composition (Two Men and a Spider), 2007–08

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona showing a ship pursuing a giant aquatic creature, which is trying to be led out of an inlet by four small fishing boats. The ship’s side reads “Titanic, Nascopie, and Noah’s Ark” in both English and Inuktitut.

Titanic, Nascopie, and Noah’s Ark, 2008

A mixed-media drawing by Shuvinai Ashoona and John Noestheden. Small squiggly shapes represent the Arctic landscape and several brightly coloured circles represent astronomical bodies.

Earth and Sky (detail), 2008

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a human-like figure with tusks and globes for eyes and a nose. It is wearing a green parka and jeans with several patches that have text in English and Inuktitut. The figure is also holding a small limp child-sized figure in front of itself.

Oh My Goodness, 2011

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a smiling blonde and blue-eyed woman with animal and fantastical appendages giving birth. She is embraced from behind by a midwife who appears as a prehistoric bird. The woman pulls an infant from between her legs and it has six small globes atop its head.

Happy Mother, 2013

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a blond-haired man in a green parka standing with his arms raised and his mouth open in alarm as fantastical orange and grey octopi grab his legs. Below him, an oblivious photographer focuses his lens on small dancing creatures before him.

Composition (Attack of the Tentacle Monsters), 2015

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a sculpture-like object with a woman's head and several limbs placed at unnatural angles. Several sticks jut out from the limbs and balance small weights from strings.

Discombobulated Woman, 1995–96

Black and white illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona made of several connected large sheets of paper. It shows a bird’s-eye view of the hamlet of Kinngait (Cape Dorset) and features houses, power lines, and roads.

Composition (Overlooking Cape Dorset), 2003

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of three women with short black hair holding up artwork on paper in front of them. The left artwork is of a woman with blue eyes, the middle is a green fishhead, and the right is a pair of scissors (with only the handle visible).

Three Cousins, 2005

Black and white illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a bird nest mostly made of feathers and built on rocks. Two duck eggs are in the nest with English text, Inuktitut syllabics, and symbols drawn on their shells.

Composition (Egg in Landscape), 2006

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of two men, one with walrus-like tusks and the other with an anemone-like beard, struggle with limbs intertwined. A tree stump wraps a long branch around them while a perching tarantula looks on.

Composition (Two Men and a Spider), 2007–08

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona showing a ship pursuing a giant aquatic creature, which is trying to be led out of an inlet by four small fishing boats. The ship’s side reads “Titanic, Nascopie, and Noah’s Ark” in both English and Inuktitut.

Titanic, Nascopie, and Noah’s Ark, 2008

A mixed-media drawing by Shuvinai Ashoona and John Noestheden. Small squiggly shapes represent the Arctic landscape and several brightly coloured circles represent astronomical bodies.

Earth and Sky (detail), 2008

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a human-like figure with tusks and globes for eyes and a nose. It is wearing a green parka and jeans with several patches that have text in English and Inuktitut. The figure is also holding a small limp child-sized figure in front of itself.

Oh My Goodness, 2011

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a smiling blonde and blue-eyed woman with animal and fantastical appendages giving birth. She is embraced from behind by a midwife who appears as a prehistoric bird. The woman pulls an infant from between her legs and it has six small globes atop its head.

Happy Mother, 2013

Illustration by Shuvinai Ashoona of a blond-haired man in a green parka standing with his arms raised and his mouth open in alarm as fantastical orange and grey octopi grab his legs. Below him, an oblivious photographer focuses his lens on small dancing creatures before him.

Composition (Attack of the Tentacle Monsters), 2015

Explore More

Online Exhibitions

Back to Online Exhibitions
Composite image of two paintings. LEFT: an abstract image of brightly coloured tubes, cones, and circles. LEFT: A woman in profile in front of a brightly coloured background of lines and circles.
The 2025 Canadian Student Art inspiration Challenge

Celebrating Canada’s Future Artists

View Exhibition
Composite image of an aerial photograph of a river (left) and a surreal painting of blended city and mountain landscape (right).
The 2024 Canadian Student Art inspiration Challenge

Celebrating Canada’s Future Artists

View Exhibition
Composite of two paintings. LEFT: portrait of two youg women in front of water. RIGHT: portrait of a woman with a young child.
The 2023 Canadian Student Art inspiration Challenge

Celebrating Canada’s Future Artists

View Exhibition
An exhibition of works by Shuvinai Ashoona