In February 2001, Kenojuak became the first Inuit artist honoured on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Just four months later, her granite star was unveiled near Alexander Graham Bell and Mary Pickford.

To commemorate her induction, two special etchings with aquatint were issued [1]. The present print, Vision on Spring Ice, is one of these celebratory works and features one of Kenojuak’s most iconic motifs: a resplendent bird, its brilliant blue plumage so vibrant it appears to shine. Richly inked, the noble bird seems to radiate in response to the thawing spring sun.

Set against the clean lines of the bird, the aquatint medium captures the subtle tonalities of spring ice. The coarse grain adds texture to the coloured, yet translucent, frozen water, perfectly conveying the shifting impressions of melting ice as it breaks free from winter’s grasp.

1. "2001 Spring Release”, Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection 2001, (Toronto: Dorset Fine Arts, Division of West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, 2001), p. 24