Bill Nasogaluak

Bill Nasogaluak
Courtesy the artist

Biography

Bill Nasogaluak is an accomplished artist originally from Tuktuuyaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, and now based in northern Ontario. In addition to working as a multidisciplinary artist, Nasogaluak is also a talented educator and trained electronics technician. Thematically, his artworks illustrate Inuvialuit culture and offer political commentary about the social, economic and cultural dimensions of contemporary Inuit life. 

In 1999, Nasogaluak was a contributing artist and team leader for the new Ceremonial Mace for the Northwest Territories Legislature. Nasogaluak worked alongside artists Dolphus Cadieux and Allyson M. Simmie to create a piece that represented the people and the land. The final design is made almost entirely of bronze and silver and also includes marble harvested from the Precambrian Shield near Yellowknife, NT, a stylized narwhale tusk and pebbles collected from 33 communities in the region [1]. The mace also includes an inscription in ten languages that each read “One land, many voices.”

One of Nasogaluak's notable works Sedna on Cross (2006), also known as The Death of My Culture, was featured in the Summer 2017 issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly. The sculpture depicts Sedna, the mother of the sea and source of life, nailed to and suffering on a cross. Created out of stone and metal, Sedna on Cross makes a powerful statement about the effects of colonization on Inuit communities. 

Nasogaluak has completed several major commissions of Inuksuit on behalf of the Government of Canada in Guatemala City, Guatemala and Monterrey, Mexico, Saltillo, Mexico, New Delhi, India, and Lima, Peru, as well as an independent commission for an Inukshuk in Osaka, Japan. Previously, one of Nasogaluak’s sculptures was also gifted to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien by the Government of the Northwest Territories in 1994 [2]. Nasogaluak has exhibited works across Canada and internationally. His work is held in public collections such as the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, NT, among others.



This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet est financé en partie par le gouvernement du Canada.

Bill Nasogaluak est un artiste accompli originaire de Tuktuuyaqtuuq (Territoires du Nord-Ouest), maintenant installé dans le nord de l’Ontario. En plus de travailler comme artiste multidisciplinaire, Nasogaluak est aussi un éducateur talentueux. Sur le plan thématique, ses œuvres illustrent la culture inuvialuit et offrent un commentaire politique sur les dimensions sociales, économiques et culturelles de la vie contemporaine des Inuits. En 2000, il a été l’un des cocréateurs de la masse cérémoniale des Territoires du Nord-Ouest. Ses œuvres ont été exposées partout au Canada ainsi qu’à l’étranger et font partie notamment des collections du Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario (Toronto) et du Centre du patrimoine septentrional Prince-de-Galles à Yellowknife (Territoires du Nord-Ouest).
Bill Nasogaluak isuma, Tuktuuyaqtuuq, Northwest Territoriesmi inuuyuat, qangma inuuyuaq saangani Ontariomi. Savaktuaq allauyuaqmiq, Nasogaluak ilisautdjilu. Inugiaktumiq, taamna savaat takunaqtut Inuvialuit inuuyaqlut pitquyaqlu  uqaqtuaq tapqua inuuniarvik, maniklu inuuyaqlu tamaita sivulliqmi qangmalu Inuit inuusiq. 2000-mi, savaktuat, allouyatlu taamna Isuma Qiyukpak Northwest Territoriesmi, savaatlu tamaita Canadami nunalika. Nasogaluak savaa iglumi Savaat Igluqpak Ontariomi, Torontomi, Prince of Wales Saangani Inuuyaq Igluqpak, Yellowknife, Northwest Territoriesmi, inugiaktutlu sumulliqa.

Artist Work

About Bill Nasogaluak

Medium:

Graphic Arts, Painting, Sculpture

Artistic Community:

Tuktuuyaqtuuq, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Inuit Nunangat

Date of Birth:

Artists may have multiple birth years listed as a result of when and where they were born. For example, an artist born in the early twentieth century in a camp outside of a community centre may not know/have known their exact date of birth and identified different years.

1953

Edit History

December 19, 2018 Created by: Inuit Art Foundation