Artist’s Legal Name: Rhoda Ittuutaq Ungalaq
Artist Lives In: Iqaluit, NU
Community artist is from: Igloolik, NU
Categories of art practiced:
Kamik Making; Parka Making; Mitt making; designing and sewing costumes for plays in Qaqqigiavut and Community plays; Christmas ornaments; upholstering & designing furniture; designing & planning cabins for her husband to build; knitting & crocheting original designs; teaching design skills to young people and adults, and jewelry making out of various materials; and beading headbands and aquq
Preferred materials & subjects:
Traditional Inuit patterns and designs; Using Inuit motifs to enhance stories from other cultures.
Year of Birth: 1948
Artist Background:
Rhoda Ungalaq is originally from Igloolik but has been living in Iqaluit for several years. Rhoda comes from a long line of seamstresses and artists of all kinds in her family. She learned the basics of sewing from her mother at a young age and many other design skills from her relatives who were always using Inuit genius to fix things and make things for living on the land. Rhoda has continued to use the Inuit design and creative genius to make what she needed, or others needed, as her life unfolded – as a mother, a teacher and now a grandmother. Rhoda also creates all kinds of useful and inspiring objects from cloth, fur, skins, bones, beads, paper and any other materials that come to hand – except metal. Rhoda continues to sew by hand and machine, to draw building designs suited especially to Inuit Nunangit, to design jewelry of all kinds and to generally create her way through life.
Notes/Comments:
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake especially when you’re working on a new item. Sometimes our mistakes are beautiful and that is how we discover new things and new ways of doing things.”