Nicotye Samayualie, Canadian Inuit Cape Dorset Artist
Research Paper
Introduction
Nicotye Samayualie, a Canadian Inuit from Cape Dorset, was born on the 23rd of November 1983. Her parents are Johnny Tunnillie Samayualie and Kudluajuk Ashoona, and her grandmother is a famous graphic artist, Keeleemeeoome Samayualie. She has clearly inherited her grandmother's artistry, whose art works were one of those few exhibited in the Cape Dorset yearly print anthology in the 1970s and 1980s (Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 2016). Nicotye has developed a strong fascination with the display, arrangements, and layouts of contrasting images in natural and artificial objects. Numerous of her artworks portray common images like crates of camping items or objects in a pantry shelf (art.td., 2016). Captivated by these natural and artificial patterns, Nicotye has gained an artistic perspective that focuses on well-known, commonplace images to take full advantage of the prospects of graphic art.
Nicotye admitted, “Buttons attract me because they are made of different colors and shapes. I like colorful buttons” (art.td., 2016, para 4). Nicotye often uses colored pencil and ink to tell stories in her creations. The Toronto Art Fair included the original artworks of Nicotye and just recently her creations were shown in an Italian paper, an enterprising academic research that examined the contribution of female painters in Cape Dorset. Thus far, three of her artworks have been published by the Dorset printshop (Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 2016). In 2013, she was introduced and given acclaim in an art fair at the Marion Scott Gallery as one of the leading new artists in present-day Inuit art (MSG, 2016).
Besides being a committed mother and a passionate artist, Nicotye took up a formal education in the arts, and has served in military enlistment and social services (Feheley Fine Arts, 2016). Her artworks depict her character and life experiences, while her personal graphic techniques and style and reflective design reveal a postmodern perspective. Her panoramic paintings or landscapes, even though influenced by her camping experiences with her loved ones and her immediate surroundings, are abstract and ingenious. Nicotye habitually makes use of symbols as a way of depicting her life experiences, giving life to nonliving things and exquisite images in nature (e.g. flowers) to epitomize her family life, personal struggles and narrative.
Some of her most popular works are posted in the Dorset Fine Arts Gallery (2016) website-- Cotton Grass (2013), Many Buttons (2013); Polished Buttons (2013); Salt & Pepper (2015); Upingngivik (Summer Camp Site); Sewing Day (2015). At first glance, these creations may seem to be quite simple, a mere depiction of mundane objects and everyday life. But for an artistically inclined perspective, these artworks are fascinating due to the sheer breadth and depth that they manifest. In the 1920s, these Cape Dorset artistic styles were originally acknowledged. Ever since, there has been an enormous growth in the number of original Dorset artworks, but the most significant developments in the 20th-century analysis of primitive Inuit art arose from new descriptions of culture that played down remote cultural attributes and promote human relationships and communities as contributing aspects (Auger, 2005). Culture, as shown in the works of Nicotye, does not survive or exist in remote, unconnected attributes, but in the combination of material, intellectual, physical, and mental attributes and in their arrangement into traditions or patterns, which are meaningful because they are a central element of human relationships.
Dorset art, like Nicotye's works, is not easy to analyze because of diversity in patterns of experience and subsistence, themes, and contexts. Nicotye ventures in agricultural or botanical depictions of plant and floral patterns in meadows of multicolored pots and pasture; artistic depictions of commonplace and new items; and, landscapes showing the rugged contour of Cape Dorset where Nicotye resides. All of her paintings express her accurate and detailed artistic technique and style in graphic arts. For almost three decades, the creation of fine art prints in the Arctic has been both a financial and artistic accomplishment. Women's artworks have been regularly exhibited in numerous yearly print editions from the very beginning.
Women's artistic talent with various attributes of the graphic arts technique-- from sketching to printing diverse artistic depictions-- has generally been associated with the commonalities of these techniques to customary women's arts of clothing design and skin sewing. Inuit women, like Nicotye, transform skins into exquisite clothing designs, usually depicting pictorial details and different colors. Through these conventional arts, women became skilled at the artistic techniques of two-dimensional form, outline, and pattern, and engaged enthusiastically in graphic arts when these opportunities were available to them (Berlo, 1989). According to Berlo (1989), several Inuit artists, like Nicotye, validate such interaction and connection between traditional clothing arts and contemporary graphic arts.
Nicotye and other female graphic artists are generously exhibited in yearly print collections, and this shows how native art is beginning to gain greater value in the world of fine arts and graphic arts. Basically, graphic arts cannot be precisely classified as 'native' or 'customary' Inuit arts, because they are not created exclusively based on native techniques, and they are not exclusive to Inuit communities (Berlo, 1989; Auger, 2005). Graphic arts are assimilated arts, created primarily for selling. These arts have a major economic role in their fast evolving cultural landscapes, but their cultural and artistic value in the communities should not be taken for granted (Berlo, 1989). For Nicotye and other Inuit artists, contemporary art demonstrates and expresses their distinctive historical experiences as Inuit people, reminds them of their indigenous cultural practices and values, and creates economic opportunities.
Nicotye's works show the artistic interplay between her native culture and the contemporary Western culture, particularly the changes that took place once new artistic styles and techniques, new markets, and new materials were adopted. At times, the economic and artistic status of women within the community is bolstered because outsiders want their artistic creations. Nicotye's works, for instance, are specifically wholesome and practical to an outsider. Her artworks bring together Inuit marketing skills, indigenous decision-making styles, economic self-reliance, and artistic brilliance. In such an environment, her creativity and artistic ingenuity has thrived.
Furthermore, a somewhat egalitarian status within the field of arts has granted numerous women, like Nicotye, with a more stable and secure economic position. As commented by one photo-journalist at Cape Dorset (Berlo, 1989, 309):
the leading female artists in Cape Dorset are powerful figures in the community, commanding the kind of respect and privilege once reserved exclusively for the great male huntsmen. They are the prime supporters of their generally large families, and less financially effective male relatives often shelter behind their formidable earning power.
This is exactly the case with Nicotye's artworks. Her creations are highly valued in the market, endowing her with a strong economic power within their community. Such remarkable achievements are widely recognized within the Inuit society, and Nicotye has obviously made a name for herself in the world of graphic arts.
Analysis of Nicotye's Works
Nicotye has painted numerous images, but six of them stand out as they appear more frequently in annual print collections. These are Cotton Grass (2013), Many Buttons (2013); Polished Buttons (2013); Salt & Pepper (2015); Upingngivik (Summer Camp Site); Sewing Day (2015). For the untrained eyes, these artworks may seem to be too simple, inelegant, and crude. But for an artist, these images are more than its mere appearance and an exceptional celebration of nature and everyday life. In fact, Nicotye is a perfect model of the newest batch of Cape Dorset painters who are broadening their artistic style and techniques to add features of trivial and mundane contemporary life, besides the more customary compositions of mythology, folk story, and nature. As stated previously, Nicotye is captivated by the patterns and designs of commonplace objects (e.g. colorful buttons) and natural elements. Shapes and colors are put into use with a remarkable level of skill and detail in Nicotyes's work. The smooth, familiar, and straightforward compositions are equalized or harmonized by the complexity of the patterning and the power and magnitude of the colors chosen, and are similar to Asian prints in terms of composition and interpretation.
The Cotton Grass (2013) is a simple, yet extraordinary, depiction of the beauty of nature in the Arctic. The image is filled with the sky's blue color and harmonized by full, voluminous forage of green in the image's center that disrupts a sense of the traditional point of view. The image shows the vibrant character and skilled patterning as evidenced in how the cotton grass seems to dance with the wind.
Cotton Grass (2013)
Nicotye depicts in Cotton Grass the balance and harmony in nature by blending in different natural colors-- blue, green, white, and brown. The interaction between the sky, the cotton grass, and the soil suggests the rustic subsistence of the Arctic people. Cotton grass is a well-known and a largely common flowering plant in the Arctic. They are rare and unique and have feathery and creamy heaps of cotton that are blown away and scattered by the wind. Nicotye depicts in Cotton Grass the balance and harmony in nature by blending in different natural colors-- blue, green, white, and brown.
The interaction between the sky, the cotton grass, and the soil suggests the rustic subsistence of the Arctic people. Cotton grass is a well-known and a largely common flowering plant in the Arctic. They are rare and unique and have feathery and creamy heaps of cotton that are blown away and scattered by the wind. As shown in Nicotye's drawing, the cotton grass is gracefully and simultaneously moving with the wind. The details show how Nicotye thoroughly observed every movement, every stroke, and every element in this specific natural arena. The painting is simple, yet nostalgic and captivating in every sense.
Many Buttons (2013), on the other hand, depicts a human-made object-- colorful buttons in different shapes and sizes. At first glance, the buttons appear to be in disarray, with no patterns whatsoever. The colors are very appealing and immediately draw the attention of any onlooker. The shapes are also attractive and somewhat tickle the senses. The combination of colors and shapes is delightful and pleasant to the eyes. But there are details in the image that require attention.
Many Buttons (2013)
Primarily, the patterning and arrangement of the buttons are remarkable. The buttons that have the same shapes and sizes are grouped together and positioned neatly in all corners of the canvass. A seemingly muddled, cluttered, and jumbled collection of buttons is merely a channel toward a more intricate design and arrangement of small details.
Even the patterning of colors has been carried out with sophisticated detail. The darker colors, particularly the brown ones, are dotted in the center of the image, and then the lighter colors are sprinkled at the fringes or outer parts of the canvass. This patterning of colors provides an 'inside out' viewer's perspective. The darker colors draw the attention of the viewer in the center and gradually disperse it to the outer rims where milder colors await. These small details give the picture a more flavorful mix. The picture clearly expresses Nicotye's conviction that everyday objects, like buttons, can be used as a theme in artistic compositions and be transformed into something exquisite and remarkable.
The same is true with her other work Polished Buttons (2013). However, unlike in the Many Buttons (2013), this picture shows a more cleanly and methodically arranged colorful buttons. The patterning is clearer here than in the Many Buttons, and the spaces between the buttons are more precisely emphasized. In addition, the colors and shapes are more visible and vivid. The arrangement of the colors and shapes is more systematic, and the positioning more precise.
Polished Buttons (2013)
One is drawn to familiar shapes, like circles, triangles, and hearts. These different shapes run diagonally across the entire canvass, while the smaller buttons complement the whole picture. The different sizes are also used by the artist to balance the dimensions of the image, to show that the differences work in harmony. The colors are skillfully chosen and positioned, concentrating the attention toward the center by using darker colors and scattering it through systematically diffused lighter colors.
Salt and Pepper (2015) is quite catchy and enigmatic. At first glance, it looks like a simple blotch in a paper, but using a more thorough and in-depth perspective, the image depicts a smiling girl with adornments in her hair. Using salt and pepper containers as accessories for the girl's hair, and the salt and pepper themselves as the primary fillers or stuffing for the girl's face, Nicotye created a semblance of feminine sentiments and tragedies.
Salt & Pepper (2015)
The face is smiling, but the color is gloomy. Perhaps Nicotye is trying to express here the female tendencies toward the mundane, the womanly contentment with everyday realities, and her own fascination with the ordinary. But the color is somewhat intriguing, especially for an Inuit artist that is known for using diverse and vibrant colors. Obviously, salt and pepper are dead in terms of color, but the murkiness of the image is quite unsettling. One may interpret this image as a challenge to gender stereotypes or conventions. The salt and pepper may symbolize the traditional view of women as housekeepers, housewives, or domestic workers. The smiling girl may symbolize how women accepted these established gender stereotypes and how they are being damaged-- as shown by the dull, opaque colors-- by these gendered beliefs. Or, perhaps, this picture is a tribute to all the women who are regarded ordinary and average in their society.
Meanwhile, Upingngivik (Summer Camp Site) is quite abstract. It seems that it depicts stones and rocks arranged in a ceremonial way. The entire image is colorless and somewhat dull. It appears to be an exact rendition of the summer camp site that Nicotye has visited or lived in. What is remarkable about the picture is the patterning and the arrangement of the stones and rocks. It seems to be hollowed out in the center, like a well or fountain that is adorned with stones at the outer rim. It seems to portray a ritually prepared camp site, an area where a ceremony will be held. Other than that, the picture is exceptional in terms of detail, especially how the stones and rocks are sewn together to form a balanced whole. The intricacy of the patterning is impeccable and shows the impressive precision and depth that Nicotye invested in the image.
And, lastly, Sewing Day (2015) depicts needles and threads in different colors. Similar to her other compositions, this picture showcases Nicotye's skill in blending different colors, shapes, and sizes. And, more importantly, it expresses the artist's profound fascination with commonplace activities, like sewing, and mundane objects, like needles and threads.
Sewing Day (2015)
Looking at the picture, one is enthralled by the polished singularity and the fine points saturating the image. The huge spaces left unadorned seem to counterbalance the concentration of the image at the center. However, technicalities aside, the image seems to portray the common means of subsistence in Cape Dorset, which is, sewing. It manifests Nicotye's affection toward mundane living and a simple traditional life. The colors she chose for the threads symbolize her intense passion toward native culture or the Inuit way of life.
Conclusions
Inuit art has fascinated numerous art scholars for numerous decades because of the cultural diversity inherent in it. Nicotye Samayualie is one of the modern graphic artists who engaged in the artistic elaboration of the mundane and the everyday realities of life. She came from a family of artists and continued this tradition by making a name for herself. She captivated and charmed the world with her conceptual, abstract, and richly symbolic artworks. She developed and perfected her own artistic style and technique with colored pencils and ink, and created compositions that are now widely featured in annual print collections.
References
Art.td. (2016). Cotton grass. Retrieved from https://art.td.com/collections/cotton-grass-2/
Auger, E. (2005). The way of Inuit art: aesthetics and history in and beyond the Arctic. New York: McFarland.
Berlo, J. (1989). Inuit women and graphic arts: female creativity and its cultural context. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, IX(2), 293-315.
Dorset Fine Arts (2016). Prints by Nicotye Samayualie. Retrieved from http://www.dorsetfinearts.com/available-prints-bynicotye-samayualie/
Feheley Fine Arts (2016). Nicotye Samayualie and Padloo Samayualie. Retrieved from http://feheleyfinearts.com/exhibitions/past/2016PudNic/index.php
MSG (2016). Nicotye Samayualie. Retrieved from http://marionscottgallery.com/artists/SamayualieN1.asp
Spirit Wrestler Gallery (2016). Nicotye Samayualie. Retrieved from http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=968
