Artist Info
Soroseelutu Ashoona
Soroseelutu Ashoona is a graphic artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Born at Nanuqtuuq camp in 1941, to Ikidluak and Martha, Ashoona was adopted as an infant by Salamonie and Kanajuk, who died when Ashoona was young. Ashoona had an adoptive brother, Joanasie Solomonie, who was a recognized Inuit film and broadcast member. Ashoona claimed that she had no mother and was told her father died in a hospital in the south getting treatment for tuberculosis, although she never believed that to be true. Evidently, Ashoona’s birth parents were alive and living in Kimmirut while she was growing up, however, it is unclear if she ever reunited with them. Ashoona is also the adoptive granddaughter of artists Pootoogook and Ningeookaluk Pootoogook, and moved to Kinngait in 1958 with them as a result of Pootoogook’s ill health.
Ashoona married Kiawak (Kiugak) Ashoona, sculptor, and son of artist Pitseolak Ashoona, and in 1962, began drawing at the encouragement of her mother-in-law. Many of Ashoona’s works centred on the depictions of women, whether at work or play. Ashoona’s artistic influence, along with that of Pitseolak, helped shape the next generation of artists, including her son Napachie (Nepachie) Ashoona (sculptor) and daughters Olooriak Ashoona (sculptor), Shuvinai Ashoona (graphic artist), Goota Ashoona (sculptor).
By 1965, Ashoona’s first prints were appearing in the Cape Dorset print collection, and in the following years, Ashoona would contribute over 35 prints to the collection. Ashoona has received several commissions throughout her career including designing a series of illustrations depicting the process for creating a parka for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in 1974 to, and she was again asked to create drawings for the exhibition Inuit Pinguangit/Inuit Games in conjunction with the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, QC. Most recently her work has been featured at the ULAG in the 2007 Titirtugait - Inuit Prints from the University of Lethbridge Art Collection exhibition, as well as the 2017 show, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ.
