This monochrome drawing is unusual, as Annie Pootoogook’s signature works generally overflow with primary colours. It is also rare in that it is based on a photograph of the artist’s grandmother, Pitseolak Ashoona, taken by Tessa Macintosh in the mid-1970s. In the photograph Pitseolak is seated, with her parka over one shoulder, working on a drawing in the busy milieu of the Kinngait Studios. Pootoogook strips away the entire background shown in the photo, so that her grandmother is depicted in a space defined only by the vertical and horizontal lines of the drawing paper, table, and the door behind her. It is a masterful composition: within the triangular structure of the drawing the subtle shading of her clothing contrasts with the dark of her hair and the heavy glasses that frame her eyes – the focal point of the drawing. Pitseolak’s gaze is calm and self-assured; originally directed at the photographer, it becomes redirected straight at her granddaughter and fellow-artist Annie, and by extension to us the viewers. No doubt this is how Pootoogook wanted her grandmother to be remembered. Annie’s love and pride shine through; Portrait of My Grandmother is a powerful and beautifully poignant work of art.