Winnie Tatya

Canadian, b. 1931

People and Animals, 1971–1972

wool felt, embroidery floss on wool stroud

87 x 47.5 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Faye and Bert Settler

2003-157

Categories:

Textile, Inuit

Winnie Tatya was born in the Garry Lake area, but moved to Baker Lake in 1968. She soon began drawing, and in the early 1970s she began making wall hangings. Her fabric work has been in many exhibitions since 1974, including the international touring show Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic, organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1995. In this early work, she has used a sewing stitch of her own invention: a long feather or Cretan stitch, tightly worked to completely cover the appliquéd felt forms. The result is a slightly raised image, with solid bands of evenly spaced coloured threads. Non-naturalistic, geometric designs have been used for the figures and animals at the top, and variegated embroidery floss contributes to a three-dimensional appearance.