Pitaloosie Saila: A Personal Journey Winnipeg Art Gallery

Pitaloosie Saila: A Personal Journey is the first institutional retrospective for the elder Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, artist. A mainstay in the annual print collections for over 50 years, Saila is one of the only living artists who was involved in early printmaking in the community. We hear from exhibition curators Susan Gustavison and Darlene Coward Wight on the importance and timeliness of this long-overdue exhibition and some of the key works in the show:

This exhibition has been in the works for some time now. Several years ago, I conducted an interview with Pitaloosie in Ottawa, where we discussed over 60 works spanning the breadth of her career. It was wonderful for her and I to see how huge her body of work was. She was very moved by the chance to look at artworks that she hadn’t seen for a long time and at the end she said, “I really have had something to say over the years and this is important. I hope I still have more to say.” She told me she started drawing when her children were young because she wanted to be someone, she didn’t just want to keep house. Certain themes emerged as I studied her work, the most important being images of women, in both a historical and contemporary context. She hasn’t made many shamanic images, but the ones she has are always female. There is an early print called Eskimo Leader (1972) and the average viewer would look at it and assume it was a man, but when you look closer at the boots and the hem of the parka, you can see it is a woman with traditional tattoos. It is unexpected things like this that I am most excited to share with the public.

“I really have had something to say over the years and this is important. I hope I still have more to say.” PITALOOSIE SAILA

Pitaloosie is probably best known for this work, which shows a mother looking at her young child in the hood of her amauti (woman’s parka) flanked by two owls. We are very happy to include the original drawing of this stonecut in the exhibition, as it offers the chance for viewers to examine the differences between the print and the drawing. This piece is also a rare example of Kinngait Studios reversing an image for print. Pitaloosie Saila (b. 1942 Kinngait) — Drawing for print Arctic Madonna 1979 Coloured pencil and felt-tip pen 51 × 66.2 cm COLLECTION OF THE WEST BAFFIN ESKIMO CO-OPERATIVE LTD., ON LOAN TO THE MCMICHAEL CANADIAN ART COLLECTION REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS

Darlene Coward Wight Birds are a favourite subject for the artist. Depicted as lively, humorous or serene, Pitaloosie imbues them with various expressive qualities. This print demonstrates the artist’s particular interest in drawing directly onto lithographic stones and plates. It was printed by Pootoogook Qiatsuk after much experimentation with lithographic tusche, or ink, to achieve the mottled effect. – Bird in Morning Mist 1984 Printed by Pootoogook Qiatsuk (b. 1959) Lithograph 50 × 67.3 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS

This is one of the most socially critical works in the exhibition. When Pitaloosie was eight years old, she broke her back in a fall and spent the next seven years in southern hospitals. She has described this as a sad and lonely time, and this print depicts a nun and nurses who treated her badly during this period. Strange Ladies 2006 Printed by Niveaksie Quvianaqtuliaq (b. 1970 Kinngait) Lithograph 38.2 × 57 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS