Ookpik Pitsiulak
Ookpik Pitsuilak was an Inuk carver and sculptor who worked in the Cape Dorset community of Inuit artists in Canada.
Early life
Pitsiulak was born in Lake Harbour, Northwest Territories in 1946. She was raised in Lake Harbour and Cape Dorset, where some of her relatives worked for the Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in the area.Artwork
Pitsiulak began carving in the late 1960's. She worked in soapstone, often using female figures as subjects and motherhood as a major theme. Many of her works are self-portraits. She also worked in beadwork and incorporated beading into her sculptures. Her works are part of collections in the Canadian Museum of History, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1999, she completed a tuberculosis memorial in Kinngait with Pootoogook Qiatsuk.Pitsiulak also engaged in jewelry making and beadwork, which she learned from her paternal grandmother. She took courses in jewelry making at Nunavut Arctic College.