Eegyvudluk (Egevadluq) Ragee
“Eegyvudluk began to draw in 1959 … when she was living at Tikerak. During those occasions when Egevadluq travelled to the settlement of Cape Dorset to trade for supplies, she would obtain graphite pencil and paper from the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. Her early works filled entire sheets of paper – mythical creatures, bird-animal-human transformations, and images from reality – all intermingled one with the other at random. By the mid-1960s, Eegyvudluk was utilizing wax crayons, or coloured felt pens on paper. A refinement developed in her work, resulting in a more simplified approach.” — WBEC profile sheet
Egevadluq Ragee’s interest in art began in 1959 while living in Tikerak when two other artists, Sheowak and Napatchie Pootoogook encouraged her to start drawing. From there Ragee began creating her early works, which were often drawn with graphite pencil on paper. Her drawings primarily feature mythical creatures, bird-animal-human transformations and scenes of traditional life in the Inuit. As her art developed, Ragee began experimenting with new mediums including acrylics, pen and ink, printmaking and wax crayon.
Ragee’s drawing style has been recognized for its use of small, short strokes used to shade large spaces, which was uncommon for artists of this period. With this technique, Ragee could incorporate new textures into her artworks. In addition to her drawings, by 1970 Ragee began painting with acrylics, making her one of the first Inuit in Cape Dorset to work with that medium.
Ragee is one of several artists whose reproductions are presented in folios by Mintmark Press Special Editions (Toronto). She is one of three artists who contributed to a special folio of work, documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1982. (1982 ‘Etchings Portfolio V: Timiat’)
In 1984 Egevadluq Ragee produced a folio of four prints, included in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue.
Ragee was one of several artists whose work was acquired and released by Norgraphics Limited between 1976 and 1984. The works that were selected are documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1986.
(Information provided by Wikipedia)
