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Happy Mother, 2013

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.

Shuvinai Ashoona, Happy Mother, 2013, coloured pencil, graphite, and ink on paper, 123 x 127.5 cm, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Happy Mother centres on a blue-eyed, blond-haired woman in labour. The infant that is being pulled from the womb by the delicate hand of the birthing mother is crowned with six small globes (a motif that appears repeatedly in much of Shuvinai’s work of this period), which are dancing atop its head.


Shuvinai states, “I was thinking that the hair was in the shape of a circle, the same as the circle of the world from up above.” This birth is mystical. The infant seems destined for Earth, but as with many of Shuvinai’s tableaux, one can only guess.

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

Happy Mother - Art Canada