In the 1983 catalogue Grasp Tight the Old Ways, Jean Blodgett discusses how the “feminine concern for personal appearance” occupies a special place in Oonark’s works. In both her textile and graphic works, Oonark would skillfully and often illustrate the ways in which style and adornment were aspects of the feminine persona. In Favourite Daughter, the frontally presented young woman is not dressed in the traditional manner that would have been familiar to this first generation artist. Instead, she is dressed in a fanciful hybrid of old and new: a coat-cum-dress that is a truly marvellous invention - part skin, part duffle cloth, part calico print. Its design recalls traditional V-shaped patterns, amulet belts, beadwork, and possibly more modern stitchery as well; these designs, which crop up regularly in Oonark’s hangings and graphics, are translated faithfully and brilliantly from Oonark’s original coloured pencil drawing by Magdalene Ukpatiku. Similarly the young woman’s elongated hairsticks, a symbol of womanhood that Oonark often employs, which extend from her head like two orderly yet energetic rays of sun, are rendered into print by Ukpatiku in swift dashes of green. In the design and the richly resonant colouring of the costume — dark blue and red, contrasted with highlights of cyan, yellow, and green — Favourite Daughter presents not only an unequivocal celebration of femininity, it also illustrates Oonark’s distinctive approach to colour, line, and her preference for symmetry. It is one of Oonark’s most dazzling and charming creations.

Literature: For Oonark’s original coloured pencil drawing see Jean Blodgett and Marie Bouchard, Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987), cat. 84, p. 92. Oonark’s strong interest in “playing with” clothing design is shown in numerous illustrations in this important catalogue, notably fig. 15, cats. 37, 49, 58, 62, 68, 70. See also Gerald McMaster ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), pp. 162-163. For writings on Oonark’s depictions of women see Bernadette Driscoll, "Tattoos, Hairsticks and Ulus: The Graphic Art of Jessie Oonark" in Arts Manitoba (Fall 1984), pp. 12-19; Maureen Flynn-Burhoe, “Jessie Oonark: Woman in the Centre”, Inuit Art Quarterly (Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 1999), pp. 26-30. See also Jean Blodgett, Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983), p. 54; Robert Enright, “The Art of Jessie Oonark: Ceremonies of Innocence” in Inuit Art Quarterly (Vol. 2, No. 14, Winter 1987), pp. 3-6.