Taking Flight Print

A group of birds take flight in this vibrant, stenciled print.

2002
Edition 15 of 35
Stencil
20 x 26"

Artist - Ida Karpik

Printmaker - Geela Sowdluapik

Ida Karpik was born on the land at a camp called Bon Accord in 1938. When she died in Pangnirtung in 2002 she had earned the respect of her own hamlet for her community work and her art. But she was also acknowledged internationally for her unique prints and drawings. Karpik left her mark on both the hamlet and arts community. She began to draw seriously in 1974 and worked for 28 years producing hundreds of original drawings on paper, showing different aspects of traditional Inuit life, birds and animals. Many of her drawings are still held in the archives at the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts in Pangnirtung.

Geela was born on the land in 1936 at an outpost camp near Panniqtuuq. Her early memories of forced relocation by the RCMP from her camp to the community of Panniqtuuq in 1962, she remembers that it was a forceful and sudden relocation. Geela recalls that no housing was provided to her family right away.

Years later, she enrolled in the printmaking program at the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts in 1999, and she continued to be featured in the Pangnirtung Print Collection since 2000.

Her subject matter are stylized birds and animals, whose facial expressions often have a mischievous note. Geela’s work is more preoccupied by relating a story rather than naturalism, with owls towering over bears, and spirits enveloping people.