Born in a traditional Inuit camp in Bon Accord on Baffin Island, Karpik lived in Pangnirtung since moving there with her husband, hunter and carpenter Joannasie Karpik, in 1964. At the time, according to Karpik's recollections, families from camps on Cumberland Sound were moving to Pangnirtung to be near their children who were attending school.Karpik left her mark on both the hamlet and arts community. She began to draw seriously in 1974 and worked for 28 years producing hundreds of original drawings on paper, showing different aspects of traditional Inuit life, birds and animals. Many of her drawings are still held in the archives at the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts in Pangnirtung.Karpik's outlook on life was that she wanted everyone, including herself, to do well and be good. The happiest times were when they were doing things together, out on the land, she said, and one of the highlights of their relationship was when they each gave birth to their first child, only hours apart.Over the past 10 years, 24 of Karpik's works have been used for prints included in the Pangnirtung collection, and 12 of her drawings have been used for tapestries created by weavers in the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio. The most recent collection, in June 2001, featured nine prints based on Karpik's drawings.

Exhibitions

• A Woman's Vision, Art Space Gallery
• Artists and Weavers III: Fine Tapestries from Canadian Arctic, Arctic Artistry
• From the Pangnirtung Weave Shop, The Guild Shop
• Our Boots An inuit woman's art, Bata shoe Museum
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *76, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *78, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *88, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *92, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *93, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *94, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *95, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Retrospective: 1973-1986, Organized by Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative Limited, Pangnirtung, at Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Pangnirtung Tapestries, The Upstairs Gallery
• Pangnirtung Woven Tapestries, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Pangnirtung Woven Tapestries, Northern Images
• The Way We Were - Traditional Eskimo Life, Snow Goose Associates
• Women Who Draw: 30 Years of Graphic Art from the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts

Collections

• Bata Shoe Museum Foundation, Don Mills
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg