Born in Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), Tim Pitsiulak was both a sculptor and an accomplished jeweller. After his move to Kinngait, he turned to drawing. Having been raised by his father as a hunter, he was a keen observer of nature, wildlife, and everyday life in his community. His early drawings ranged from meticulously rendered images of machinery and ships, to large format depictions of animals and marine life. Tim Pitsiulak embraced experimentation, switching back and forth from small to large format; white paper to coloured paper; realistic to fantastic; and sometimes even humorous subject matter. He was also a skilled photographer, capturing images that were often used as inspiration for his colleague, Itee Pootoogook.

Kinngait Town is a view of Pitsiulak’s community at night. Black paper can be challenging for all artists, but Pitsiulak excelled at creating successful and dynamic images through his skillful use of colour. This image captures a Kinngait nocturne perfectly. The isolation of the hamlet is captured by the hard-to-see hills surrounding the glowing lights of the settlement. The small indication of blue light along the horizon echoes the dip of the town as it slopes down towards the harbour. Individual houses are depicted in the centre of the settlement with those in the distance marked as mere pinpoints. Pitsiulak’s scene is realistic, yet beautifully evocative. The warm golden red colours and the blurred edges of houses make Kinngait appear warm and inviting, an oasis of light in the vast darkness of the Arctic landscape.

References: For a very similar drawing by the artist see Darlene Coward Wight, Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2012), cat. 104; Other prime examples of Tim Pitsiulak’s original drawings are reproduced in Gerald McMaster, ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), pp. 193-195; For more works by the artist see Anna Hudson et al., Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2017). For a lovely photograph by William Ritchie depicting almost exactly the same night view of Kinngait, see Nancy Campbell, Itee Pootoogook: Hymns to the Silence (Toronto: Goose Lane Editions / Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2019), pp. 19-20.