Annie Taipanak (1931- )
Baker Lake, now living in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
2009
27" x 30"

A striking wallhanging set on a thick black duffle background, with four human/bear spirit heads at the corners and 14 polar bears walking on the land. The artist used felt for the heads but stitched threads directly on to the duffle to create the bear figures.

Taipanak's late husband, Jimmie Taipanak, was a sculptor and also a wallhanging artist -- one of the few men (along with Normee Ekoomiak, Peter Hallauk and Paul Kavik) to produce this artform. Her mother was the late Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq Qiayuq (1916-2004), one of the original generation of wallhanging artists who created this artform in the 1960s along with Annie.

Taipanak's work is included in the collections of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, and the University of Alberta.
One of her wallhangings was given as a gift of the Canadian people to the Prime Minister of Norway in 1980 by Prime Minister Trudeau.
Another was presented by the Governor General of Canada as a gift of the Canadian people to the President of Hungary in 2008.

The embroidery stitches used in this piece include: feather, stem, satin, fly, buttonhole and square double chain.