Pauojoungie Saggiak

Pauojoungie Saggiak (b.1959) is a graphic artist from Iqaluit, NU. Saggiak grew up living with her family throughout southwest Baffin Island. As a child she was enthralled by the birds and animals near her family’s camp and began to draw what she saw [1]. This period of time had a strong impact on Saggiak’s creative vision. In 1970 she moved with her family to Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Saggiak was subsequently inspired by the work of other graphic artists in the community and rekindled her artistic practice at the Kinngait Studios [2].

Saggiak appeared in the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection for the first time in 2016 [3]. Four of her prints were included in the collection and juxtapose themes of avian and sea life. Her bird prints were created using the stonecut and stencil method, allowing for crisp linework and precise blocks of colour on their plumage. This technique is expertly applied in Timmiaralaaq (Little Bird) (2016) highlighting the bright brown feathers on the bird’s back and the delicate black feathers surrounding their face. The bird illustrated in Timmiaralaaq (Little Bird) (2016) is a lapland longspur, a summer resident in the Arctic. Another summer bird is the snowy owl in Watchful Eyes (2016), the heavy black feathers and framed face suggesting its youth and newfound independence.  

In contrast, her prints Counting Char (2016) and Treasures of the Sea (2016) were reproduced as lithographs and make use of colourful, regularly patterned motifs. Each fish and shell are uniquely designed, highlighting an array of diversity within the surficial organization. Counting Char (2016) could be an homage to Saggiak’s birthplace of Iqaluit, whose name is derived from the abundance of fish in the nearby waters. This bounty is aptly represented in the print by a lively school of char swimming towards an unseen current. Saggiak’s compositions are layered with the endearment of childhood memories. The small shells in Treasures of the Sea (2016) could have been collected during summer beachcombing when the ocean is no longer locked in ice. Treasures of the Sea (2016) is a playful composition that delights in the natural geometry of the shells and their orientation to one another. The spiralling tops of the shells create concentric circles among their rhomboid bodies, which in turn align into an overall rectangular arrangement. The wildlife in Saggiak’s works are reflections of her memories spent on the land, all depicted with detailed realism and sensitivity.

Saggiak’s works were exhibited throughout commercial galleries in October 2016 as part of the 2016 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection tour, as well as at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit [4].