Very few works have the same poetic power in their simplicity as Arctic Gulls. Here the gentle swelling forms, softly rounded, are more stylized than true to life. The uncomplicated image of a gull, stenciled twice on the sheet, allows our attention to focus on the exhilarating colours. A deep blue that is nearly black contrasts with the neighbouring bright red. Such an emphasis on the application of colour that follows and complements the design solution seems remarkably Modernist when you consider that the American Hard Edge Abstractionists whose aims were, broadly, to create art based on the abstracted shapes of the world around them, were only beginning to gain traction south almost simultaneously. James Houston, who was also an artist, obviously appreciated Niviaqsi’s novel and bold talent. Niviaqsi’s simplified drawing style was ideally suited to translation into prints; eight of the forty images in the inaugural 1959 collection were based on Niviaqsi’s drawings.