Gloria Inugaq Putumiraqtuq, DRUM DANCERS, 2004, duffel, felt & embroidery floss, 35 1/2 x 57 1/1 in.

Gloria Inugaq Putumiraqtuq is a young woman carrying on tan ancient tradition through modern materials. Inuit textile arts evolved out of the historical need for carefully fashioned skin clothing and camp equipment sewn by women. Since the 1960s the women of Baker Lake have translated these ancient skills into works of art, applying decorative felt forms and surface stitching to colourful spreads of duffel.

Born in 1975, Gloria was raised in Baker Lake by senior textile artist Winnie Tatya. “My stepmother started teaching me when I was a little girl,” Gloria recalls. “She let me start sewing with her when I was eight or nine.” Gloria has assimilated the technique of covering animals with a thick coating of loosely spaced stitches. Her work exhibits a keen sense of colour an attention to finishing details – hallmarks of the elder artists. “I learned from watching my stepmother, my natural mother, Vera Avaala, and my aunt, Naomi Ityi,” she explains.

Gloria has lived in Montreal, Quebec City and Iqaluit, as well as Baker Lake. In September 2001 she attended the Toronto opening of her first solo exhibition at Feheley Fine Arts. “It was a different experience for me,” she recalls. “I’d never seen my art all together before. It made me want to do more.” Since that time, her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and have been selected for the Canada Council Art Bank.

Gloria’s artistic process flows in a comforting rhythm: figure patterns are traced onto felt; these cut forms are dealt across the background like so many cards until a satisfying composition emerges, and then everything is hand stitched in place and overlaid with variegated threads.

Colourful animals and spirit figures appear in intricate groupings that vibrate with ancient symbolism. “I like to think about shamanism”, Gloria admits. “I use a lot of spirits from my mind: a walrus spirit, a man turning into a bird.” Other works depict scenes of traditional camp life. “Those are my own experiences,” she explains. “When I was a little girl we spent time at a camp north of Baker Lake in the summertime.”

Gloria’s most recent works are mature constructions featuring narrative elements in prominent centralized compositions. A favourite theme is the winter qaggiq, a gathering of far-fluing nomadic families at a large snow house to tell tales, renew acquaintances and sing songs to fill the low-light Arctic winter days. Outside, a dog team swirls around the igloo while colourful animals spirits echo the rhythms of the drum dance inside.

Gloria continues to develop her artistic eye and watches for inspiration all the time. “I think about my next one wile I’m doing the last one; that’s when I sort out in my head what I will do next.”