Cleaning Fish – Mabel Nigiyok

Mabel Nigiyok joined the Holman Printshop in 1981, just before it converted (for reasons of health and safety) from stonecut prints to stencilled prints. Each year a collection of these prints was released, featuring the best works of several of the community’s artists. This particular stencilled print was probably made c.1988.

Mabel’s art typically depicts community life in the high Arctic. This one shows a woman gutting a fish in preparation either for drying or cooking for immediate consumption. The fibres and imperfections in the rice paper make the clothes of the woman look like felted wool, or the inner side of animal hide. Although the picture is rendered in what appears to be the utmost simplicity, there is a warmth and liveliness to the image that makes it memorable.

Untitled stencilled print of an Inuit woman cleaning a fish, by Mabel Nigiyok (1938- ), Holman, N.W.T. Framed measurements: 14.25×11.25 inches, acid free double mat. $300.00