Raised in Makkovik, Labrador, I grew up surrounded by art and craft. Our matriarch, my grandmother Nellie Winters, made a living through art and craft, and has recently received an honorary doctorate from Memorial University for her contributions to Inuit art. Despite attending residential school and being forced to relocate south, she has passed down her creativity and traditional knowledge to many of her 11 children and generations of grandchildren. I credit her and my mother for my passion for art.

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Through my painting I share my memories and experiences as vividly as I remember them - breathing, feeling, absorbing my life as an Inuk in Nunatsiavut. I’ve always had an intense curiosity and attention to detail, which I believe is why I gravitated towards painting. Painting allows me to achieve the realism, vivid colors and sharp contrasts that I remember.

 

The common themes you see in my work, like a woman’s working hands, or the terrain under my feet, are moments that are both grounding and exciting to me. Watching my mother sew on the couch, or walking Christine’s Hill looking for redberries, are intimate experiences that I feel deeply connected to. They are moments that I crave as a way to connect to my culture and to myself - moments of complete presentness, quiet from the noise of daily life. 

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