Exhibitions

Drawings by Shuvinai Ashoona

Cornerstone January 15 - Feb 28

Shuvinai, a printmaker from Cape Dorset, is gaining national attention for her detailed drawings of life in Nunavut. Her drawings share a glimpse of her modern community, and her vision of the landscape of the north.

Shuvinai was born in Cape Dorset in August, 1961. She is the daughter of Kiuga Ashoona and Sorosilutu, both well known for their contributions to the arts in the north.

Shuvinai began drawing in 1995. She works with pen and ink, coloured pencils and markers. Her sensibility for the landscape around the community of Cape Dorset is particularly impressive, and her drawings are often very personal and meticulously detailed. Shuvinai's work was first included in the Cape Dorset annual print collection in 1997. She is a committed and prolific graphic artist.

Shuvinai's work has attracted the attention of several notable private galleries, as well as public institutions. She was featured along with her aunt, the late Napachie Pootoogook, and her grandmother, the late Pitseolak Ashoona, in the McMichael Canadian Collection's 1999 exhibition entitled "Three Women, Three Generations". More recently she was profiled, along with Kavavaow Mannomee of Cape Dorset and Nick Sikkuark of Gjoa Haven, in the Spring 2008 issue of Border Crossings, a Winnipeg-based arts magazine. Her drawing of "Eden" was a strong feature of the recent show from Cape Dorset at the National Gallery of Canada.

In an unusual contemporary collaboration, Shuvinai worked with Saskatchewan-based artist, John Noestheden, on a "sky-mural" that was exhibited at the 2008 Basel Art Fair and was shown again at Toronto’s 2008 "Nuit Blanche". Shuvinai is also the subject of a documentary art film to be released this year.

Cornerstone is pleased to show 30 wonderful drawings by this talented artist