In Three Narwhal, Kananginak – who was both draughtsman and printer of this work [1] – summons depth through a language of simplicity. Here, each feathered edge of the three aquatic creatures emerges with remarkable subtlety, producing a gradation that feels less inked than breathed onto the paper. The overlapping silhouettes of these narwhals do not congeal into stillness but seem to leap within the imagined water of the crisp white sheet. From a technical standpoint, to create the convergent forms of the lower two narwhals, this would have been an ambitious attempt for the novice printer, Kananginak, involving the layering of multiple impressions from a single stencil, each carefully masked, repositioned, and inked with controlled gradation so that the silhouettes overlap without collapsing into opacity.

As his career blossomed, Kananginak was described as the “Audubon of the North,” a phrase that sought to frame his vision and artistic achievement to a broader audience. Indeed, this work shows that even when reduced to their most essential forms, his images carry the weight of close observation and a deep attunement to the natural world. In Three Narwhal, the sleek contours of the animals, the slight spiral of the tusk, and the delicately rendered spray of water above the notched blowhole reveal both his precision as a draftsman and his sensitivity as an artist.

1. Sandra Barz notes that there is no chop on the print and that Kananginak was identified by the co-operative printers.

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