How Tarralik Duffy uses pop art to show her memories of life in Nunavut
Use this visual companion guide to follow along with the award-winning Inuk artist's interview on Q
Jerry cans, bottles of soy sauce, canned meats — these are just some of the everyday objects depicted in Tarralik Duffy's latest body of work.
The award-winning multidisciplinary artist is based in Saskatoon, but she grew up in a small village in Nunavut called Salliq (Coral Harbour). In Gasoline Rainbows, her new solo exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Duffy has assembled a series of nostalgic touchstones that bring her back to her childhood, with a pop art twist.
She joins Q guest host Saroja Coelho to tell us what these everyday objects convey about life in Nunavut, and how her show explores the multi-layered meaning of home.
Listen to Duffy's conversation with Coelho and follow along using this visual companion guide.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen to the Q with Tom Power podcast, on your favourite podcast player.
Jerry Cans
When I was growing up, I felt like life was happening anywhere except in Nunavut.
[Gasoline cans] are ubiquitous, like they're everywhere.... You watch your uncles and cousins and your grandfather tying them down to the back of a boat.
While I was growing up, it's like you don't realize the things that you take for granted, or the things that you're going to maybe find beautiful in a strange way because it means home in a way you never expected.
Klik
Klik is a funny thing, you know, because it's premium pork. These are the things that we would put in our grub boxes when we're going out [hunting] on the lands.... It means sustenance, in a way, right? It was brought to us to sustain you while you're looking for the things that will actually sustain you.
China Lily
I like to play with language, so [this piece is] like the Great Wall of China Lily. All these stupid puns amuse me.
My dad was always playing with language and he taught me that language is fun to play with, and English is kind of a ridiculous language to begin with.... I just thought it was funny because of the pun, and I thought it would be a nice visual image.
Blubber Yum
[Blubber Yum is] one of my favourite pieces because it's just a large drawing of, you know — I don't even know the real name now — Bubble Yum? I've completely twisted my own brain, but yeah, it's like purple and pink....
I was working on the Klik can and it's got this, like, blubber pink for the pork, kind of like a Barbie pink. And it just made me think of this time I was eating with my auntie and she had said, "Oh, you know, I love this so much I could chew it like a big piece of bubblegum." And that memory had just come to me and suddenly there was this madness that took over because I just pictured it immediately. So I just had to put everything else down and I just hurriedly made this piece. I didn't even know if it was going to be in the show, but I advocated for it because I ended up loving it so much.
Tea Time
The full interview with Tarralik Duffy is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Tarralik Duffy produced by Matt Murphy.
