IAF staff celebrate the sun with these luminous works.


Jukke Rosing Untitled (2015) Digital photograph 50 × 70 cm © THE ARTIST

Untitled (2015)

Jette Bang i dialog is a stunning collection of portraits by Greenlandic artist Jukke Rosing. Contemplative and revitalizing, the series has a grounding effect, calling viewers to take pause and reflect. This photograph caught my attention with the subject’s calm, confident expression, spirited wind and soft, cool colours evoking anticipation for the return of the sun. Jette Bang was a mid-twentieth century Danish photographer, renowned for documenting Greenlandic life before its presumed dissolution—reminiscent of Edward Curtis’ attempt to capture North America’s “vanishing race” in his sepia-toned images. With a focus on relationships, Rosing echoes Bang’s tender approach and reminds us that Greenlandic culture is still here.

— Nadine Ryan
Former Assistant Editor

Peter Aliknak Banksland Sliding in the Sun (1972) Stonecut 60.5 × 46 cm COURTESY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION © THE ARTIST

Sliding in the Sun (1972)

My favourite part about Sliding in the Sun is Peter Aliknak Banksland’s (1928–1998) use of red. The colour gradation is unusual for the artist, who more often printed his images monochromatically. But here it serves to burnish the children’s heads and the hillside with the glow of the setting sun, fiery rays beaming into eight pairs of eyes. Outside of the V of lines that define the cleft of the hill, the surrounding landscape is all negative space. Banksland has given us the time of day, the quality of light, even the orientation of the hill with respect to the sun—all with just one extra colour.

—Jessica MacDonald
Associate Editor and Editorial Supervisor

Kenojuak Ashevak The Woman Who Lives in the Sun (1960) Printmaker Lukta Qiatsuk Stonecut 49.5 × 65.4 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL © THE ARTIST

The Woman Who Lives in the Sun (1960)

When looking up at the sun, are we simply looking at a celestial body—or is it something more? In this iconic stonecut print, Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, ON, RCA (1927–2013), depicts the sun in a radiant scarlet, conveying the sense of heat that we feel when basking in sunlight. In the centre is the smiling face of a woman, adorned with tunniit and sun rays mimicking flowing locks of hair. This personification speaks to the spirit within everything that surrounds us in our existence. The sun is not merely a hot star suspended in our galaxy; it is a giver and sustainer of life. It is life.

—Lisa Frenette
Former Associate Editor

Abraham Anghik Ruben Beckoning the Skies (2010) Brazilian steatite 82 × 74 × 23 cm COURTESY KIPLING GALLERY © THE ARTIST

Beckoning the Skies (2010)

Abraham Anghik Ruben, OC, who had great-grand-parents who were shamans, often intertwines figures from Inuit and Norse legends to create new narratives that reveal historical touchstones shared by northern cultures. Beckoning the Skies, sculpted in warm Brazilian steatite, portrays a shamanistic ritual in which one figure carries a sun disc high above their head, while the other holds up a drum and mallet. A sense of purpose and hope flows through the tension in the shamans’ stretched bodies as Sedna and Ran, the Norse goddess of the sea, together guide the umiak safely through the waves.

—Sue Carter
Former Deputy Editor

Tony Anguhalluq Light Green and Dark Yellow with Cracky Separate with Three Broken Rocks with Hills (2006) Coloured pencil 30.4 × 22.9 cm COURTESY MARION SCOTT GALLERY © THE ARTIST

Light Green and Dark Yellow with Cracky Separate with Three Broken Rocks with Hills (2006)

Rather than depicting the sun itself, Tony Anguhalluq has chosen to highlight the effect it has on the land—a favourite subject for the Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, artist. Anguhalluq’s landscape drawings document the constantly changing rhythms of the land, which are owed to the daily and annual cycles of the sun. In this work, he captures sunlight’s ability to transform the landscape into a dazzling expanse of bright, beaming yellow set against a pink cotton-candy–hued sky. Since we can’t look directly into the sun, I’ll revel in this opportunity to bask in Anguhalluq’s golden hour on the tundra.

—Leanne Inuarak-Dall
Former Contributing Editor