Sorosiluto Ashoona
(1941–)
(–2011)
Sorosiluto Ashoona
1941–2011
Sorosiluto Ashoona (1941–2011), also known as Sorroseeleetu Ashoona, was an Inuit graphic artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, who produced a variety of prints and drawings. She made many contributions to the art community in Kinngait and consistently produced work for the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection between 1970 and 1980.
After a year of encouragement from her mother-in-law Pitseolak Ashoona, Sorosiluto began drawing in 1962. Her first print, titled Woman Juggling, was published in 1965 in the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection. Sorosiluto explored a variety of mediums over the course of her artistic career. She began by using graphite rather than popular materials of the time such as wax crayons and coloured pencils. In 1976, she was introduced to acrylics and watercolours, and she experimented with painting throughout the latter half of the 1970s. Returning to drawing, Sorosiluto participated in an etching workshop in Kinngait. The influence of this experience is visible in the precise linework characteristic of her later prints and drawings.
The subjects of her drawings were often mischievous, subverting conventional cultural roles and behaviours. Sorosiluto’s scenes often depicted women in moments of mediation, peril, play, or work. In other drawings seemingly empty Inuit outfits are made animate. Without the presence of human bodies, the clothing is depicted performing daily tasks on its own or dressing animals and other non-human beings.
Sorosiluto was married to Kiugak Ashoona, a renowned sculptor. Their daughter Shuvinai Ashonna also became an artist. Sorosiluto was the granddaughter of artists Pootoogook and Ningeookaulk and the half-sister of Joanasie Solomonie.
Sorosiluto’s prints and drawings have been included in many exhibitions, including a commission for the exhibition Inuit Pinguangit/Inuit Games (1975-1977) in conjunction with the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Her work is also present in many permanent collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, among many others.