Shuvinai Ashoona
My Curious People

COMPOSITION (BUBBLE GUM), 2024, Coloured pencil and ink, 11 3/8 x 15 in.

In this new body of work by Shuvinai Ashoona, the artist revisits a number of unique subjects for which her work is most admired: surrealist creatures, globes, and anthropomorphic animals, to name a few. Yet most noticeably, the human subject dominates—it’s one that Ashoona has played with throughout the majority of her 30+ year-long career. Imbued with her usual extraordinary colour palettes and creative vision, My Curious People pays homage to daily life and how it proceeds in its various forms.

Artists presenting their drawings is an intriguing subject that Ashoona often depicts. Past works have included creative re-interpretations, including animals and transforming creatures showing off art. In both I’ve Been Good (2024), and Composition (Showing Off) (2024), proud human artists reveal their works to the viewer in different settings—one in the studio, one at a campsite. In fact, the subject harkens back to drawings made by Ashoona’s relatives including Pitseolak Ashoona who brought the subject of autobiography to Inuit art. While Shuvinai Ashoona seemingly depicts other people in the place of herself in these drawings, the concept of a drawing within a drawing is one that continues to be admired by viewers and fans alike.

Human portraits also have a delightful presence in My Curious People. In the small sketch entitled Composition (Portrait) (2024), the face of a blue-eyed, brown-haired woman pleasantly stares straight at the viewer, framed by a fur-lined sunburst hood. In Composition (Four Friends) (2024), Ashoona uses white ink on black paper to depict four portraits side by side, stretched vertically to fill the length of the sheet. Defined only by outlines, the elongated portraits have a surrealist feeling to them and are optically intriguing—where do their heads end and hats start? In the vibrantly coloured Composition (Class Mates) (2024), executed on the difficult to work with 23 ⅜ x 7 ¼ inch sheet of paper—on which several works in the show have been made— Ashoona visualizes a group portrait. Each figure’s arm is wrapped around another, making the piece a lovely homage to camaraderie and community.

Ashoona is also known for bridging the traditional with the contemporary. She depicts people from the past usually identifiable by their skin clothing and the presence of traditional tools, like harpoons or kakivaks (traditional fish spears). At first glance, the drawing In Composition (Taking Photos at Summer Camp) (2024), appears to be such. A group of Inuit on the right side of the drawing wear skin clothing, identified by the use of browns, tans, and yellows, and walk toward a skin tent in the background. A couple on the left side wear the same garb and pose for a photographer. In fact, two photographers—one might be a videographer—capture these moments live. But is this a scene from the past or simply a re-creation? In the background to the left of the skin tent, a group of figures excitedly peer out the window of an oddly placed prefabricated house, like fans or extras on a film set. Could this scene depict a movie being filmed, perhaps a period piece about Inuit in the past? Ashoona leaves hints and clues throughout this large-scale drawing prompting the viewer to speculate about her drawn world.

In My Curious People, the viewer is taken on a visual adventure across various depictions of people and other subjects, executed in a variety of style, colours and sizes. What one may interpret from one image might be different from another, but that is part of the joy of viewing Ashoona’s work. In this homage to the people and world that she knows, Ashoona invites viewers to reconsider the North as a dynamic world full of imagination, complexity, and communal love.

The guitars below are part of an ongoing collaborative series with Dorset Fine Arts, Brad van der Zanden and various artists. Throughout this project’s tenure, 17 instruments have been made, all unique works of art. The bodies of the guitars are primed in Toronto and then shipped north with acrylic paint markers. Once the artwork is complete, the bodies are sent back to Toronto for finishing. Brad chose a guitar body type that had minimal hardware on the body, allowing more space for the artwork.

A number of other artists have also been involved in the past, including Ningiukulu Teevee, Tim Pitsiulak, Qavavau Manumie, and Jutai Toonoo.