Seal Skin Fringe Earring Workshop

Artist

Tarralik Duffy

1979

Tarralik Duffy is an Inuk artist and writer from Salliq (Coral Harbour), Nunavut currently based in Saskatoon. Duffy’s creative work celebrates distinctly Inuit experiences, often infused with a dose of humour and pop culture. She works across media, regularly incorporating drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles, printmaking, and digital medias into her practice. Her work juxtaposes Inuit culture, of the past and present, with pop art aesthetics and ideas. She often reproduces iconic packaged foods that circulate across the north, updated with Inuktitut. These works not only comment on food security in Inuit communities, but also Inuit food sovereignty, an important aspect of Inuit culture that has persisted through colonization. Other works focus on storytelling and making epic the stories and figures who have greatly impacted her and other Inuit. In 2012 Duffy founded the brand Ugly Fish, which became popular across the north for its modern jewellery made from bone and graphic printed clothing. Duffy is also a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Her short stories have won prizes and have been published and her writing on Inuit artists has offered an important perspective on Inuit art from an Inuk perspective. Her work has been featured on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly magazine and in exhibitions across Canada. She was the recipient of the 2021 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award and participated in the Nordic Lab at SAW Gallery in Ottawa. She currently has two exhibitions running, Let’s go Quickstop at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Gasoline Rainbows at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.