Beginning in the early 2010s, Shuvinai's work began to prominently showcase a distinctive array of hybrid animals, monsters, and otherworldly beings, all brought to life in vibrant, rich colours. Untitled (Monsters at the Foot of a Woman) showcases this imagery with striking brilliance, blending unsettling intensity with a touch of absurd humour. Here, at left, two fanged creatures – who appear to wear bowls or pots as makeshift hardhats – engage in a conspiratorial exchange, seemingly egging one another on. The green, lizard-like monster, spurred on by the other's encouragement, finally musters the nerve to reach out, tentatively extending its black-clawed hand toward the hemline and boot of a larger figure, only a hint of which is visible to the viewer.  In stark contrast, a third creature with pale skin and wide, fearful eyes, cowers beneath a cream-coloured blanket adorned with hearts and stars. Almost paralyzed with fear, it can barely muster the courage to peek out at its friends’ foolish antics.

Shuvinai’s depiction of these monsters as cowards is a striking reversal of expectations. Typically, monsters are envisioned as powerful, fearsome beings that evoke terror. Yet here, the image of one cowering under a blanket while the others timidly interact with the giant woman completely disrupts this narrative. Instead of embodying ferocity, these monsters are rendered vulnerable, perhaps scared even of each other, a twist that is humorous and delightfully ironic.

References: For an overview of the artist’s life and work, see Nancy G. Campbell, Shuvinai Ashoona: Life & Work, (Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2019). See also Jean Blodgett, et.al. Three Women, Three Generations: Drawings by Pitseolak Ashoona, Napatchie Pootoogook and Shuvinai Ashoona, (Kleinberg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1999), and Sandra Dyck, Shuvinai Ashoona: Drawings, (Ottawa: Carleton University Art Gallery, 2012). For other examples of drawings by the artist, see Gaëtane Verna, Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds, (Toronto: Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, 2021), and Gerald McMaster, ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), pp. 200-203.