Northern Rock Susan Gustavison (1999)I like working with the stone from Markham Bay although there are different kinds of stones. ... When the stone is softer, it's harder to get the detail to stand out becuase the stone tends to break off easily when i am using chisels.i started carving when James Houston started buying carvings---before I was married. I would try not to let people see me because women weren't carving at the time. ...I was embarrassed. It was only when other women started carving, around the time I got married, that i was not as shy. i don't usually make animals. I mostly work with the human figure. i have been carving ever since.my tools have changed since I began carving stone. I used to used just an axe. When i am not using an axe, I use electric tools, but they tend to take off a little more than what is meant to be taken off. And there is a lot more dust, too. I also use a hand chisel and all kinds of files.------------------Cape Dorset Suclpture: Derek Norton & Nigel Readinga daughter of graphic artist mary kudjuakjuk, she grew up traditionally on the land and began to make small carvings after her father's death when she was still a girl.She married Oqutaq; both of them were encouraged by James and Alma houston to make carvings. She made some drawings in the 1960s and in the late 1970s but preferred carving.As both she and her husband had wage employment, she made carvings because she wanted to, not because she had to, and perhaps because of this, her work had a certain charm.---------------Northern Rock Susan Gustavison (1999)uses electric tools if I am not using the axe. But electric tools tend to take off a little more than is supposed to be taken off. And there is a lot more dust too.------------ married to Ohotaq Mikkigak, daughter of Mary Kudjuakju, sister of Laisa and Sheojuke------Quanaq Mikkigak (Cape Dorset)B. 1932Quanaq is known as both a carver and graphic artist. She did not draw until 1960, and then abandoned her initial efforts until returning to drawing in the late 1970s. A carver for many years, she occationally carves today, usually on a smaller scale. ----------------www.pequotmuseum.orgQaunak MikkigakBorn at Nuvujuak in 1932, Qaunak has childhood memories of carvings by her father Pitseolak and other men, who sold their works to the Hudson's Bay Company. As a youngster Qaunak carved as well, making her one of the first Inuit women to take up the art. She has lived all of her life in the Cape Dorset area, though she travelled to camps in South Baffin Island as well. In Nuvujuak, she married Oqutaq Mikkigak, and the couple followed the traditional life of hunting and fishing. Qaunak and Oqutaq raised a family of eight, seven of them adopted. They eventually settled in Cape Dorset to provide for their children's education. There, at the urging of James and Alma Houston, Qaunak took up carving and sewing to supplement the family's income.Although she has produced works in drawing, sewing and jewellery, Qaunak's reputation has grown based on the quality of her sculptures. She has been represented in the annual Cape Dorset print collections for the years 1980, 1981 and 1986. Her works have also been in group exhibitions, such as Eskimo Sculpture Eskimo Prints and Paintings of Norval Morrisseau, Art Association of Newport, Rhode Island; Debut - Cape Dorset Jewellery, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal; and Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery, B.C. She is also known for her performances of Inuit throat singing.-------------------As one of our Invited Artists we are very honoured that Qaunak Mikkigak has agreed to participate in this year's Festival. A respected Elder, Qaunak is known for her exceptional stone carvings and drawings. She has been honored for her jewelry designs as well. She is known to be one of first women in Cape Dorset to try her hand at carving. Qaunak has traveled to around the world exhibiting her art and demonstrating her talent as throat singer, and has offered to demonstrate at this year's Festival.

Exhibitions

• Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition Print by Kananginak, The Guild Shop
• Cape Dorset Graphics *80, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *81, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *86, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery
• Contemporary Canadian Eskimo Art, Gimpel Fils
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
• Debut - Cape Dorset Jewellery, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Early Masterpieces of Inuit Sculpture, Feheley Fine Arts
• Eskimo Sculpture, Eskimo Prints and Paintings of Norval Morrisseau, Art Association of Newport
• Haunak's Women Sculpture, Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec
• Imaak Takujavut: The way we see it Paintings from Cape Dorset, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
• Isumavut:The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Miniaturen, Inuit Galerie
• Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery
• Sculpture by Women, Feheley Fine Arts
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Lorne Balshine Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/ Dr. Harry Winrob Collection, Surrey Art Gallery
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists II, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists III, Feheley Fine Arts
• The Hand: Images in Inuit Sculpture, The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery
• The Inuit Experience: Animals of the Tundra and the Sea, Houston North Gallery
• The Things That Make Us Beautiful/Nos Parures, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery

Collections

• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg