Kenojuak Ashevak: Swans at Sunset Birthday Card

Kenojuak Ashevak (Canadian, Inuit, 1927–2013) Swans at Sunset, 2002

Kenojuak Ashevak

Kenojuak Ashevak (Canadian, Inuit, 1927–2013) was a groundbreaking artist for Kinngait Studios, in the territory of Nunavut, and ultimately a pioneer of modern Inuit art. Raised on the land in an isolated Arctic community, she went on to break artistic gender barriers, set sales records, and navigate profound social change. Throughout her career she created complex, rich images with intertwining, overlapping, and flowing forms. She had an intuitive sense of composition and an instinct for depicting the interconnectedness of all living things. After establishing her reputation in 1960 with The Enchanted Owl—an image so popular it was reproduced on a Canadian postage stamp—she worked nearly nonstop. She contributed to Cape Dorset’s print collection almost every year and completed countless special commissions. Ashevak is widely considered a Canadian national treasure.