Artist Info
Mary Koomwartok Ashoona
Mary Koomwartok Ashoona is a graphic artist and sculptor from Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay), NU. Ashoona was born in 1938, and is married to Koomwartok Ashoona, the son of well-known Kinngait (Cape Dorset) graphic artist Pitseolak Ashoona. A number of Mary Ashoona’s extended family are artists, including her sisters-in-law, Soroseelutu Ashoona and Mayoreak Ashoona, as well as her children, nieces, and nephews.
For years, Ashoona was encouraged by her mother-in-law Pitseolak Ashoona to begin drawing, and in the late 1970s, she agreed, beginning by cutting out pieces of paper to trace and measure the figures, similar to measuring techniques in sewing. Although this technique is fairly unique to Ashoona, many artists used the sewing skills they learned growing up and applied them to later drawing and printmaking.
Her work was included in the Cape Dorset Annual Print collection the year after she started drawing. Ashoona’s works have not yet been exhibited at the ULAG.
