The art of stitchery was passed down to Annie Piklak Taipanak from her mother, the renowned wall hanging artist Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq (1916-2003). Angrnaqquaq had begun sewing works on cloth in the early 1970s and was known for her exuberant use of embroidery, which has often been described as “painterly.” Like her mother, Piklak was born on the land, only moving to Baker Lake with her husband, Jimmy Taipanak, in the late 1950s. She, herself, took up sewing appliqué works seriously around 1980 but for years used embroidery floss only sparingly, perhaps not wishing to copy her mother’s style too much. When she did embrace stitchery and adopt her mother’s style (more or less), it was wholeheartedly and with spectacular results.

This monumental work on cloth literally teems with many dozens of human and animal figures and faces, jumbled together with abstract shapes. There is no suggestion of narrative or even organized “activity” in the usual sense, even if the figures do seem extraordinarily active, or at least energized. The sense of energy is palpable, and a feeling of excited, jostling community buzz. Piklak’s thread work – which manages to look both meticulous and rough-hewn – covers this remarkable work from border to border. It is the “all-overness” of the net-like stitchery – and of course the artist’s extraordinary use of colour (in both appliqué and floss) – that creates both dynamism and unity in the composition. We love the way that her closed feather stitches snake around the embroidered felt figures and shapes. Also notable is the division of the large work into four panels. It almost creates the impression that we are looking at this joyous, almost hallucinogenic jumble of Inuit life through a big window. We have long been fans of Annie Piklak Taipanak’s works on cloth. This glorious, zany tour de force almost takes our breath away.

References: For smaller but similarly fine works on cloth by this artist see First Arts, 13 July 2021, Lot 68; and Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2017, Lot 91.