About Pierre Aupilardjuk

Pierre Aupilardjuk has been with the Matchbox ceramics program, Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), since it began in the late eighties. From 1990 to 2000, he worked as the Assistant Manager, coordinating most aspects of production, and working closely with all of the artists of the Matchbox. He has also served as an instructor. Aupilardjuk maintains an active life on the land and much of his time is spent hunting to provide for the needs of his family.

His style of work represents his strong roots in a traditional aesthetic, which predominated in the days when the legendary figures of Inuit art were at work in the ceramics program, which was being run by Claude Grenier. Aupilardjuk’s father, Mariano, a brilliant and articulate spokesman on behalf of traditional knowledge and practice, is a renowned sculptor and elder whose artistic works and words are highly respected in Nunavut.

Aupilardjuk’s works are included in the ceramics collection of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center, Yellowknife; the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; as well as in private collections throughout North America. His work was included in several exhibitions, including Modern Echoes: Contemporary Inuit Ceramics and Sculpture at Native American Trading Company Gallery, Denver. In June 2001, Pierre was the Kivalliq representative at the Greenland Arts Festival, Nuuk. His work has also been shown at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2001, and the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, in the summer of 2006.