Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq was born in 1916 in the Garry Lake area northwest of Baker Lake. Her mother died when Angrnaqquaq was a young girl, and she was obliged to look after her younger siblings to help her father. She eventually married and raised her own family; the family moved to Baker Lake in 1958. Angrnaqquaq, who had been taught to sew by her grandmother, began making and selling small “hangings” around 1968, thus herself becoming one of the older generation of women to translate the traditional skill of sewing skin clothing to the “new” art of producing works of art on cloth. She combined appliqué and embroidery techniques in her work, eschewing patterns or stencil shapes and instead filling the available space with evenly weighted animal and human figures. Sometimes her stitchery covered both background and figures [1]; but here, the beautifully embroidered figures float freely against the dark background. A charming Arctic bestiary commands the greater part of this composition. Angrnaqquaq’s art “displays” figures rather than situating them in a narrative, allowing the viewer to simply enjoy the quiet charm of the figures, individually and collectively. Angrnaqquaq’s daughter Annie Taipanak followed in her footsteps to produce masterpieces of her own. [2]

1. See First Arts, 2 December 2024, Lot 54.

2. See First Arts, 12 June 2023, Lot 48.