Arnaquq Ashevak

Arnaquq Ashevak was a multidisciplinary artist from Keatuk, NU who later in life made Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU his artistic community and home. Ashevak was adopted into a prolific artist family and began carving as a young adult.

Ashevak is best known for his three-dimensional work [1]. He did not make simple carvings but rather constructed unconventional sculpture with various materials. With assistance from the Inuit Art Foundation, Arnaquq took a 5-week residency in 1981 at Banff Centre for the Arts where he worked with ceramics for the first time [2]. In 1990, he began working as an assistant printmaker for the West Baffin Co-operative, which led to his recognition as a graphic artist [3]. He has also participated in several printmaking workshops sponsored by the West Baffin Co-operative in Cape Dorset.

Ashevak exhibited his work across Canada and the United States at galleries and museums such as Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON and the Albers Gallery of Inuit Art, San Francisco, California, U.S. His work is part of the public collections of institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, QC, to name a few.  Ashevak appeared many times in the Inuit Art Quarterly.

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Accomplishments

1991: Awarded a grant from the Inuit Art Foundation to attend the Banff Centre for the Arts for five weeks.
1992: Awarded a scholarship from the Inuit Art Foundation to attend a three-week carving workshop at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, Vermont.