Artist
Mary Paningajak Alaku is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Ivujivik. She works across drawing, painting, printmaking, jewellery, clothes making and carving. Mary is a multi-talented artist who uses her creativity and artistic skills to illustrate the activities of the Atautsikut Community of Practice. The Atautsikut logo was also developed by Mary who drew inspiration from the symbolism of the maniq, the arctic moss that grows together – atautsikut – and which, combined with other plants, will form the wick to light the qulliq. Mary is also interested in the creativity of her people in all its forms. She wants to highlight the ingenuity of Inuit who have always created tools and clothing from the limited resources available in their surroundings. It is with this creativity that her people, a people made up of artists, she says, have managed to adapt to an extreme environment.