Nancy Pukingrnak Aupaluktuq was born in the Chantrey Inlet area of the Kivalliq region. She lived a largely nomadic lifestyle before settling permanently in Baker Lake in 1958. Her mother is the famed Inuit artist Jessie Oonark, and her siblings Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Josiah Nuilaalik, Janet Kigusiuq, Mary Yuusipik, Miriam Nanurluk, and William Noah are all artists as well. 

Aupaluktuq states that her mother encouraged her to pursue the arts. She is known for her intricate drawings and sculpture as well as wall hangings. Her art often depicts one of three themes: intimate domestic scenes recalling life on the land from her nomadic youth, depictions of “Qavaq” the multi-headed mythological creature known for feeding on humans, and portrayals of “Qiviuq” the Inuit hero. Aupaluktuq blends traditional Inuit cultural imagery with western perceptions of space to create a style that is distinctly her own. 

Her work has been collected by many notable institutions including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Guelph, and the Indigenous art collection of Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. 

Exhibitions

• A Culture on Paper: Baker Lake Drawings, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Baker Lake Drawings, The Upstairs Gallery
• Baker Lake Print Collection *82, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *83/84, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *86, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *87, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Retrospective: A Twenty Year Anniversary, The Upstairs Gallery
• Baker Lake Sculpture, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Baker Lake: Persistence of Old Memories, Brandon Allied Arts Council
• Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Cape Dorset Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
• Demons and Spirits and those who wrestled with them, The Arctic Circle
• Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Drawings from Baker Lake, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario
• Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi, Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
• Inspiration Four Decades of Sculpture, Marion Scott Gallery
• Inuit Art from the Art Centre Collection, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
• Inuit Drawings, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Looking South, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Nancy Pukingrnak: Baker Lake Drawings and Sculptures, The Upstairs Gallery
• Noel au Chateau - Art inuit de la collection Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Guelph, Ontario presented at Chateau Dufresne
• Oonark's Family, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Pukingrnak/Tookoome Drawings, Gallery Pascal
• Qamanittuaq: Where the River Widens Drawings by Baker Lake Artists, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Six Women of Baker Lake, The Upstairs Gallery
• Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada, at Bunkamura Art Gallery, presented by the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology and The McMichael Canadian Art Collection
• The Coming and Going of the Shaman: Eskimo Shamanism and Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Guelph
• The Spirit World - 1977 to 1990: Baker Lake Clyde River and Pangnirtung Prints. A retrospective collection exhibited at selected commercial galleries, organized by, Canadian Arctic Producers
• The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery

Collections

• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
• McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Publications

• DIE KUNST AUS DER ARKTIS, Author: Inuit Galerie, Publication: Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany: Inuit Galerie (1981)