Artist Info
Pudlo Pudlat
Pudlo Pudlat was a sculptor and graphic artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Pudlo was born in 1916 at Ilupirlik, a camp near Amadjuak, NU, to his father Pudlat and mother Quppa. The family lived near Coral Harbour until Pudlat was six years old, before relocating to Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), NU. Pudlat spent much of his life living nomadically as a hunter and fisherman, travelling along the southwest coast of Baffin Island until he was in his 40s. Pudlat was married and widowed twice, and lost four children before marrying Innukjuakju, a graphic artist and widow, in 1950.
Pudlat and Innukjuakju had six children, three of whom survived to adulthood. In 1952, the family moved to Keaktok, where his two brothers were living, but by the late 1950s, Pudlat and his family moved to Kinngait for medical treatment, some sources say it was to treat an arm injury Pudlat sustained in a hunting accident, while others suggest he received tuberculosis treatment. Innukjuakju herself became ill in 1970 and died in 1972. As of 1979, Pudlat lived with his two school-age daughters in Kinngait, and only one other of his eleven children was still alive, an older daughter who lived nearby with her own small family.
Pudlat started his artistic pursuits as a sculptor, before eventually painting and drawing. Extremely prolific, over the course of his lifetime, Pudlat created approximately 4,500 drawings with 190 made into prints. His early works often included creatures and combinations of fantasy and reality, however, Pudlat is best known for depicting imagery of traditional life merged with modern technology. Airplanes, helicopters, and telephone poles frequently interacted with the Arctic landscape and animals in his drawings, symbolizing the paradoxes of Inuit-settler encounters.
Pudlat has received many recognitions in his lifetime and was the first Inuit artist to be honoured with a retrospective of his work at the National Gallery of Canada in 1990. His prints have been included in numerous Cape Dorset annual collections and have been exhibited internationally. His print Flight to Sea (1985) was featured in the 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver. Most recently his works have been featured at the ULAG 2019 exhibition, Stories for the Collection.
