Multimedia Inuk artist Tarralik Duffy is the recipient of this year's $10,000 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award. The biennial award is presented by the Inuit Art Foundation and honours the legacy of Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak by supporting mid-career Inuit artists.
“Over a decade ago I remember being so moved by Kenojuak's work I was brought to tears,” says Duffy. “Her art is so alive, so powerful, I wanted to touch what she touched. To win this award in her name means the world to me and I hope I am able to honour her in the work I do.”
Duffy, an artist, writer and designer from Salliq (Coral Harbour) in Nunavut, is based in Saskatoon. Her work is diverse, from bone jewelry created for her label, Ugly Fish Designs, to Pop-inspired drawings that replace English letters with Inuktitut syllabics.
“There is a secret recipe for those who not only participate, but also create in ways that make Inuit wonder,” says jury member and former Kenojuak Ashevak award winner Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory.
“I don't dare dabble with the recipe as it belongs to these artists themselves, but I suspect it has something to do with intergenerational love, the ability to look both from within and outside our culture, the need for both solitude and connection, and a deep sense of intelligent humour. This is Tarralik. Long may she awe us.”
The Winnipeg Art Gallery has announced that every winner of the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, starting with Duffy, will have a solo show at Qaumajuq, the gallery's new Inuit art centre. Additionally, the winner will have a residency at Qaumajuq and their work will be acquired as part of the institution's permanent collection. Duffy's solo show is in 2023.
This year, the award was expanded to include a short list of three artists – Eldred Allen, Kablusiak and Couzyn van Heuvelen – who each received $3,000.
Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery