Shuvinai Ashoona's London exhibition When I Draw presents Inuit perspectives on time and climate

Shuvinai Ashoona's exhibition When I Draw at The Perimeter in London showcases the Inuk artist's colored pencil drawings depicting life in Kinngait, Nunavut. Her work blends everyday scenes with mythological figures like Sedna, the Inuit sea goddess, and imagined creatures, reflecting Inuit resilience amid colonization and climate change. The exhibition includes historical context through works like The Green Bear (1961), a soapstone carving by her uncle Eegyvudluk Pootoogook designed by Lucy Qinnuayuak, and a corresponding print Large Bear (1961). Kinngait Studios, originally the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative founded in 1959, has fostered Canada's largest per capita artist community. Ashoona's recurring globe motifs in pieces like Untitled (2010) shift perspectives from anthropocentric views to highlight non-human life. The climate crisis discussion references COP28 in Dubai and the Anthropocene, emphasizing time's role in environmental action. Parallels are drawn with Inuk writer Tanya Tagaq's novel Split Tooth (2023), which explores human-nature interconnectedness in Nunavut during the 1970s. Ashoona's self-taught technique enlivens two-dimensional figures, portraying traditional nomadic life disrupted by colonial settlement policies. The exhibition marks her first European solo show since the 2022 Venice Biennale.