Tim Pitsiulak

I am a hunter and I know the land and animals of the north. I am particularly inspired by the bowhead whale, because nobody really knows much about them. My inspiration to be an artist comes from my aunt, Kenojuak Ashevak, because she is the oldest and the best.
-Tim Pitsiulak

Tim was born in Kimmirut, Nunavut in 1967. He was a hunter, painter and carver. Tim started drawing and carving at a young age, learning from his parents, Temela and Napatchie Pitsiulak. The land and its wildlife were initially the primary influences on Tim’s realist drawing style. More recently he had become a chronicler of the everyday, drawing large format, meticulously detailed depictions of boats, heavy equipment and airplanes – the machinery of modern life in Cape Dorset.

In 2004, Tim took a community jewelry making course in Kimmirut, combining local rocks and minerals with sterling silver.

“I think it’s great. If I can draw it on paper I can now do it with silver. What I can see everyday in the stores, I now can do that. Accomplishment, learning a new skill. You can do so much with a sheet of silver or wire.”

Being a hunter, his respect for the natural world and its wildlife were fundamental to his artistic sensibility. Tim was particularly inspired by the whales that frequent the cold, Arctic waters - the beluga and the bowhead - because as he said, nobody really knows much about them. The bowhead in particular is a majestic and mysterious creature and frequently he would embellish his drawings of these animals with ‘tattoos’ of ancient artifacts. His artistic career was featured in the 2012 summer issue of The Walrus magazine and in 2013 he attended a very productive printmaking workshop at New Leaf Studios in Vancouver.

© Dorset Fine Arts