Kinngait, Nunavut

B. 1977-

Padloo Samayualie comes from a family of well-known artists, her maternal grandparents being the renowned sculptors, Qababuwa and Taraya Tunnillie. Her grandmother, Keeleemeeoomie Samayualie and her aunt, Elijakota Samayualie both were established artists in drawing and graphic arts.

Samayualie is a multi-disciplinary artist who is best known for her drawings. She began drawing seriously while attending a Banff drawing workshop in 2001. In 2007, she was part of an animation workshop in Cape Dorset and she studied jewelry making at Arctic College. Her print Amiarutit (Brushes) was chosen for the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection in 2012. Her work was featured at Art Toronto 2016, and that same year, she participated in an artist residency at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Samayualie’s first solo exhibition, Padloo Samayualie: North and South was at Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON in 2017.

Samayualie’s drawings address a range of subjects, including architectural interiors, and landscapes as a backdrop for scenes of everyday activities. Though her focus tends to be on the realities of life in Nunavut, she has also produced works combining contemporary elements with powerful shamanic images of animal transformation.

Samayualie’s work is held in public collections internationally, including the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, MB and the Richard F. Brush Museum, Canton, NY.

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