Phillipa Iksiraq
B. 1944 Qamani’tuaq, NU —
Based in Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, Phillipa Iksiraq, along with her husband Thomas Iksiraq, are longtime members of the Sanavik Co-operative Association and have contributed regularly to their print collections over the past four decades. Working primarily in stencil and silkscreen printing, common among Iksiraq’s works are depictions of animals and traditional life on the land that appear to float against stark white backgrounds, as well as transformation scenes of muskoxen, geese and more. In certain instances, her transforming subjects bridge the landscape and become part of it. Iksiraq’s interest in the spiritual also materializes in Brain (1998), an animated stencil of weaving serpentine forms tangled by an unseen force. Seeing drawing as an opportunity to capture personal and collective histories, Iksiraq’s work combines both the mythical and profane in order to contemplate the cultural changes impacting northern communities.