Wieland, Joyce (1979) - Soroseelutu, Artist of Dorset [Lithograph] ©Government of Ontario Art Collection, Archives of Ontario
Joyce Wieland (1930-1998) was born in Toronto and became known for making art about feminism and about Canadian identity. During the 1970s, Weiland focused on making work about the Arctic. The roots of her interest in the north were planted in the 1960s when her gallerist began showing Inuit art at his gallery.
Weiland saw the north as alive and with plentiful resources and abundant flowers that must be protected. She travelled to Kinngait in Nunavut, in the early 1970s (then it was known as Cape Dorset in the Northwest Territories). There, she met the Inuk artist Surusilutu Ashoona (1941-2011) and developed a friendship with her. Over the years, they intended to each make prints of each other’s faces. Weiland made at least two lithographs of Surusilutu and two drawings of her flying with wings. The Art Gallery of Ontario also has this exact print in their collection.