Flossie Papidluk (1904-1994)

apidluk was born near Read Island, BC, and lived in Ulukhaqtuuq, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, where, in the 1960s, her drawings were produced as prints with the recently introduced stonecut technique. Eleven of her prints were in the Ulukhaktok Print Collection between 1966 and 1984. Papidluk’s prints from the late 1970s feature bold forms in monochromatic black or red, juxtaposed with small, surprising details. For me, the effect of these strong forms and fine lines is that she brought freshness to the familiar and connected the intimate to the epic, revealing other realms and casting relationships I thought I knew in an otherworldly light. Source

In Fight for a Woman (1977), Papidluk shares a secret about love triangles: they are no paltry thing—they’re a battle of forces. At the centre is a woman so solid and round, she’s almost planetary. She holds the power of creation at her pelvis and breast, where weighty white contours catch the eye. The men merely circle the woman, but the urgent red colour of the print reminds us that the fight for a mate is elemental. Lust. Power. Territoriality. Resistance. On earth, it’s an eternal battle. Papidluk, however, adds humanizing details to this archetype—facial tattoos, hair, lack of hair! Suddenly the men’s inability to budge the woman becomes all the more powerful. She’s not just another female to be won but an individual, whole and radiating agency. Source