Last Look

Goota Ashoona

On the occasion of his appointment to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Kiugak (Kiawak) Ashoona (1933-2014) travelled to Winnipeg, MB, at the close of the celebrations to visit and work alongside his daughter, third-generation, Kinngait (Cape Dorset) artist Goota Ashoona, who is perhaps best known for her intricate whalebone work.

In Kiawak Ashoona, Inuit Carver, My Father (2002), the late artist is captured mid-action, realizing the iconic form of Nuttaralik (the bird spirit), a signature and oft-revisited subject of Kiugak.

Rendered in smooth, grey stone quarried from the Manitoba-Ontario border and punctured with rich black veins, Goota’s piece stands as a poignant and deeply personal portrait of her father.

Collection Canada Council Art Bank Photo Lipman Still Pictures Goota Ashoona (b. 1967 Sandspit) Kiawak Ashoona, Inuit Carver, My Father 2002 Stone and metal 51 x 23 cm