Baker Lake painter shares Inuit culture in Nunavut directory cover art contest
Kaytlyn Amitnak is using her skill with a brush to share her Inuit culture and traditional knowledge with the world.
Amitnak, a painter from Baker Lake, was selected as one of Northwestel’s directory cover artists. Her painting Dancing Grizzly Bear graces the cover of this year’s phone directory for Nunavut. Finding out her painting was chosen gave Amitnak a boost of confidence in her ability to create.
“Winning made me feel really accomplished. It felt really nice to have put in a lot of work and then have it acknowledged and actually win the contest. It made me feel really confident as an artist and as an individual.”
Dancing Grizzly Bear 12 x 16 oil painting on canvas, By Kaytlyn Amitnak
A first-time entrant in the annual art competition, Amitnak says she’s spent most of her life creating art. “As long as I can remember, I’ve been into art. As a little girl I was drawing a lot. Whether it was with pencils or crayons. As I got older, I started adventuring with different mediums, like watercolours. I eventually fell in love with oil painting, so now I stick with that.”
Kaytlyn snuggling her little sister, who she refers to as "her heart" in a fur trimmed amauti (a parka with a pouch on the back used to carry a baby).
For the directory cover art competition, Amitnak submitted a painting of a grizzly bear dancing within the flickering flame of a qulliq – a traditional Inuit oil lamp. The qulliq holds a significant place in Inuit culture and heritage, providing light and warmth during the long, cold winter.
Inuit culture is a passionate subject for Amitnak. As a college student, she attended classes devoted to Inuit studies. The culture and stories inspire much of her artwork.
“I find it really interesting because it is something from my Inuit culture that isn’t maintained right at this moment. I’m really into our culture and our cultural beliefs, so it’s important to me to create those visuals of the past and our belief systems.”
As winner of the Northwestel directory cover art contest, Amitnak takes home a $5,000 prize. She says she was surprised to win, but the hardest part was keeping it secret until the new phone directories came out. “I really enjoyed creating this painting. So, I submitted it, and to my surprise I won. I wanted to share the news with my family but keeping it to myself - I think that made it even more exciting!”
While she has no immediate plans to pursue an art career, Amitnak insists she’ll keep painting in her downtime as she works toward a career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Kaytlyn sighting in a rifle on the land, under the midnight sun in Baker Lake with her brother
See the rest of Kaytlyn's collection on her Instagram page
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