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Artist: Jessie Oonark, O.C., R.C.A. (1906-1985),
Alternative Names:
• Oonark Oonark
• Jessie Oonark
• Una Oonark
• Unaaq Oonark
• Jessie Oonark OC
Date of birth: 1906
Place of birth: Back River, Nunavut, Canada
Date of death: 2 March 1985
Place of death: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Community / Heritage: Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake)
Sex: Female
Disc Number: E2384
Jessie Oonark was a world-renowned Inuit Canadian artist. Oonark was born in the spring of 1906 in the Back River area, approximately 250 km north of Qamanittuaq (Baker Lake), Keewatin Region, Nunavut. She was named after her paternal grandfather, Una.
Oonark had a traditional upbringing. From an early age, she learned to process caribou and sealskins, and sew clothing and parkas out of these materials. In the mid-1950s, Oonark and her family were forced to settle in Baker Lake due to declines in both the caribou population and the global demand for Arctic fox furs, as well as a severe shortage of food in the Back River area.
Oonark began to draw shortly after moving to Baker Lake. A selection of her drawings was sent from Baker Lake to Cape Dorset; three of the drawings were made into prints. Additionally, she was making small wall hangings for sale at the local craft shop. Her work was characterized by brightly coloured symmetrical compositions of people, figures in traditional clothing, spirits, animals, and birds, traditional tools, Inuit women with facial tattoos in pursuit of traditional domestic activities.
By the late 1960s, Oonark was experimenting with different mediums, including felt-tip pen, coloured paper, and large-scale wall hangings. The largest wall hanging was installed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 1973.
Oonark was a major force in the development of the graphic arts program at Baker Lake in the 1960s and 1970s. Initially, she supported herself and her family by working as a janitor at a local church. However, her talent was recognized by an art advisor at Baker Lake, who offered Oonark a studio and a small salary to allow her the full freedom to focus on her artistic production.
Between 1970 and 1985, more than 100 of Oonark’s drawings were translated into prints and issued in the annual Baker Lake print editions.
In 1979, Oonark began to experience numbness in her hands and feet. After a failed surgical intervention, she lost much of her manual dexterity and produced only a few more art pieces.
Oonark was widely recognized during the 19 years of her artistic career: She was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1975 and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984. Her works have been exhibited worldwide and are held in major collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her impact on Inuit art and its development was monumental.
She passed away on March 7, 1985, in Churchill, Manitoba.