Referencing the forms and shapes used in Kablusiak’s Inuit felt drawings, Help the Inuk find their Dinner! is an interactive playground structure. This work approaches the issue of food security with humour, empathy and solidarity, inviting visitors to reconsider their perceptions of contemporary indigeneity and the stigma surrounding mental health.
Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist and curator who uses Inuk ingenuity to create work in a variety of mediums including, but not limited to, lingerie, white flour, soapstone, permanent marker, bed sheets, felt, acrylic paint, and words. Their work explores the dis/connections between existence in the Inuit diaspora while maintaining family and community ties, the impacts of colonization on Inuit gender and sexuality expressions, as well as on health and wellbeing, and the everyday. In all of their creative work, Kablusiak seeks to demystify Inuit art and create the space for Inuit-led representation of the diverse aspects of Inuit cultures.
Kablusiak’s recognition has extended the boundaries of the exhibition space and their work has been collected widely; most notably the Indigenous Art Centre (CIRNAC), the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity), The Image Centre, Global Affairs Canada Visual Art Collection, and most recently they were included into the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Kablusiak can be found on the Sobey Art Award 2023 Shortlist in the Prairies and North category; the prestigious award will be granted to one of five shortlisters in November 2023 at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.