Traditional images meet modern design in Inuit artworks

Montreal-born Gabriel Nuraki Koperqualuk stands before some of his artworks at an exhibition of Aboriginal art in Montreal April 14. The photographer and graphic artist says manipulating images of Inuit culture are helping him reconnect to his Inuit roots. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

An example of one of Gabriel Nuraki Koperqualuk’s digital images — this one’s called New Age. (PHOTO COURTESY G. KOPERQUALUK)

SPECIAL TO NUNATSIAQ NEWS

MONTREAL — Gabriel Nuraki Koperqualuk was born and raised in Montreal, but he’s finding his northern Inuit roots through a modern twist.

The 29-year-old Dawson College student spoke to Nunatsiaq News at a recent exhibition of his unusual art April 14 at an urban gathering of Indigenous artists at the Katacombes Solidarity Co-op in Montreal.

Nunatsiaq News: Gabriel, can you describe your art?

Gabriel Nuraki Koperqualuk: It’s called glitch art. It’s basically art that I create by taking a picture on my phone and then manipulating all the pixels, changing the colours, putting it in black and white, making it a little more abstract.

Also I’ve taken archive photos from the Avataq Cultural Institute of hunters and traditional clothing made of caribou skin.

NN: It’s not a usual type of art you do, what drew you to this genre?

GNK: I always enjoyed very much abstract art, and back when I was starting college I had no idea what I wanted to do, so my mother actually suggested I try graphic design, because I always loved to draw but just very shy-ly.

So when I discovered graphic design it was just a whole new world, being able to use a cell phone or a computer to create art. And for me it’s very easy, because I have a short attention span so it’s very simple, it doesn’t take too long. But I still have a very good amount of control over what I want.

NN: We see Inuit images and references in your art too. How does being Inuit influence your art?

GNK: I grew up here in Montreal. And when I was a kid there was never any other Inuit around me. Everyone else thought I was Inuit but I didn’t think I was Inuit because when we would go up North, me and my family, I wouldn’t speak Inuktitut. I still can’t speak Inuktitut.

So it’s kind of a weird thing, you’re kind of on the fence. So I think this art helps me reconnect to these things that are a part of me. But until recently I didn’t see the connection at all. It helps me reconnect to this traditional part of my culture.

NN: Is it a good sign that Inuit artists like yourself are becoming more contemporary?

GNK: I believe that is a good thing. I believe it’s important to be in touch with the more traditional aspects. I haven’t had the chance to do the carving or prints and stuff. I’d love to try that.

But I do believe we are moving forward and we have to reach a point where the traditional and the modern meet, and it’s starting here, now, with native culture in general being more popular and more widespread.

NN: Can you describe a piece you’re most proud of?

GNK: I took a photo from the Avataq Cultural Institute of a woman simply posing in her caribou parka and she has a kid in her amauti in her hood, just peering through the side.

It’s all in black and white and she’s surrounded by black lines that are going through her. It reminds me of scientific images of space. For me it’s kind of caged or surrounded.

NN: There’s an image of a caribou head too, can you explain the meaning behind that piece?

GNK: I already had an image. It was just a man and a building. And I thought — how can I change this, make it more interesting, more connected to the Inuit culture.

My mother had this caribou antler, this head, and I took a photo of that, put it in the photo and it had these crazy effects. It represents a loss of culture, the struggle between the modern and the traditional.

NN: You’re a student at Dawson College in commercial photography. What aspirations do you have in that field?

GNK: I’ve always wanted to become a documentary or photo journalist. What inspires me with photo is I’d love to have the chance to go up North and take a lot more photos and show the world down south what it is to be Inuit.

To find Koperqualak’s work, check out his Facebook
page, or his Instagram page.

You can purchase his images on his Etsy site here.