Jessie Oonark Wall Hangings

Their size intensity and technical brilliance have attracted many fans over the years and are found in major private collections around the world with the largest example in the national arts centre in ottawa.

Jessie oonark wall hangings. View artwork biography and auction results for jessie oonark. Jessie oonark oc rca ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ. Today the jessie oonark centre in qamani tuaq baker lake nu opened in 1992 in her honour provides a space for local artists to learn and create a space that was not available for oonark herself during her career. Jessie oonark is known for her drawings and wall hangings and her decorative hieratic brilliantly coloured images come from a lifetime of cutting caribou skins and sewing them into clothing.

2 march 1906 7 march 1985 was a prolific and influential canadian inuit artist of the utkuhihalingmiut utkuhiksalingmiut whose wall hangings prints and drawings are in major collections including the national gallery of canada she was born in 1906 in the chantrey inlet tariunnuaq area near the estuary of the back river in the keewatin. Her strong bold and colourful compositions that have delighted generations found their expression in various media including drawings prints and wall hangings. Her drawings prints and wall hangings can be found in virtually every major public and private collection of inuit art in the world and have been exhibited and published extensively. It hung in the foyer of the arts centre until 1994 when it was removed to be included in oonark s travelling retrospective 6.

She created a unique personal vision by combining traditional inuit images featuring the shaman s flight with hunting scenes and symbols from her. Jean blodgett beautifully summarizes oonark s approach to visual expression in the concluding paragraph of her essay the art of jessie oonark in oonark s hands space becomes subject real becomes abstract decorative becomes symbolic thought. The tapestry commissioned by bill and jean teron was unveiled in may 1973. Oonark s wall hangings have a captivating presence.

The work of jessie oonark 1906 1985 is beloved among inuit art enthusiasts worldwide for her distinctive wall hangings prints and graphics. Jessie oonark is the most celebrated baker lake artist a recognized genius in both the graphic and textile arts. In addition to drawing oonark produced wall hangings one of which hangs in the national arts centre nac ottawa on. Her distinctive style using bold flat areas of colour is evocative of traditional inuit sewing techniques.