Description
Magdalene Ukpatiku
(1931–1999) Qamani’tuaq/Baker Lake
Magdalene Ukpatiku was an Inuk artist and printmaker from Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut. She was one of the experienced printmakers who participated in Nunavut Arctic College’s two-year Drawing and Printmaking program in Baker Lake, beginning in 1995.
The program led to the 1997 Baker Lake Print Collection, the first annual collection produced in the community since the Baker Lake print shop closed in 1990. Ukpatiku worked alongside both established artists and newcomers, continuing the collaborative tradition of Baker Lake printmaking in which one artist’s drawing could be interpreted into a print by another. Her work appeared in Baker Lake print collections during the 1970s and 1980s, and she returned to printmaking for the 1997 collection.
Frightened Baby Becomes a Ptarmigan was created by Magdalene Ukpatiku for the 1997 Baker Lake Print Collection, a landmark return to annual printmaking in the community after a seven-year interruption. The resulting collection brought together established artists and a new generation of printmakers, continuing Baker Lake’s tradition of artists learning from one another and working collaboratively.
