Jamasie Teevee
(1910–)
(–1985)
Jamasie Teevee
1910–1985
Jamasie Teevee (1910–1985) was an Inuit graphic artist born near Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), Nunavut. The majority of Jamasie’s career was focused on engraving and printmaking before he returned to drawing near the end of his life. Jamasie’s artwork depicted traditional scenes of Inuit hunting and camp life. He was married to graphic artist Angotigolu Teevee, and his children Anirnik Ragee, Parnee Peter, Nicotai Simigak, and Simeonie Teevee are sculptors working in Kinngait.
In the early 1960s, Jamasie began drawing in an Inuit camp on the south shore of Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island), Nunavut. Throughout the 60s and 70s, he was focused on engraving and would ferry his completed copper plates to Kinngait (Cape Dorset) for printing at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (now Kinngait Studios). In the early 1980s, Jamasie returned to drawing, using a range of graphite, coloured pencils, and felt-tip pens to create his works. His drawings are characterized by their simple, precise, and uncluttered lines, reminiscent of the style required for printmaking.
Between 1964 and 1985, Jamasie’s prints were included in the Annual Cape Dorset Print Collection. His prints and drawings have been exhibited in a range of solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, and Europe. His work is also held in a number of museum collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Vaughan, the Remai Modern, Saskatoon, and the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., among many others.
