Wolf Possessed by Spirits is a striking example of the early Kinngait printmaking practice wherein the draughtsmen would cover a single sheet of paper with an assortment of stand-alone motifs, from which the printer would choose the most compelling image for print production. The graphite original from which this print is derived shows a meticulous preservation of detail by printmaker Lukta Qiatsuk, with the addition of negative spaces that bring clarity and distinction to the creature’s form. It's these subtle details – including breaks between the back leg as well as the ruff and the body, the delineation of back hooves, and two open areas on the frontmost hand – that underscores the expertise involved in selecting and refining the imagery for print.

Many of Eegyvudluk’s early compositions feature hybrid human/animal forms, reflecting traditional beliefs in the transformative abilities of shamans and spirits. In the context of the print title, the term “possessed” does not carry the malevolent connotations often associated with the Judeo-Christian understanding of the term. Instead, as Jean Blodgett described, it refers to a world where spirits, far from being strictly entities of their own, are intertwined with all aspects of the world—both animate and inanimate [1]. In this work, a wolf becomes a vessel that bears three human faces, representative of spirits, and human arms and hands extend from the front of its body to exude a potent and powerful presence on the page.

1. Jean Blodgett, In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way, (McMichael, 1991), p. 53.