Male Figure

Janet Kigusiuq was born in 1926 at Putuqsuqniq camp near Garry Lake in what was then the Northwest Territories. She was the eldest daughter of renowned artist Jessie Oonark and came from a large family of artists. Her siblings included Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Nancy Pukingrnak, William Noah, and others. She was married at age 11 to Mark Uqayuittuq, son of artist Luke Anguhadluq.

Kigusiuq's family was relocated to Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake) in the mid-1960s. In 1967, encouraged by her mother, she began drawing to supplement her family's income.

Kigusiuq worked across multiple mediums including drawing, printmaking, textiles, wall hangings, and collage. Her early work featured figurative scenes of camp life and oral traditions, with distinctive figures drawn in profile with prominent eyelashes, often accompanied by descriptive text. Her work depicted camp life activities such as hunting and fishing, drawing from childhood experiences at the family camp, Kitikat, in the Back River region.

Between 1970 and 1988, she contributed to the Baker Lake print collections. Her style evolved from strong linear work to a more painterly approach using vibrant colored pencil overlays. In 1984, she delivered her mother's work "Giver of Life" to Pope John Paul II in Ottawa as a gift from the Canadian Inuit.

She created her first collage in 1995 as part of an Arctic College diploma program. The onset of arthritis prompted her shift toward collage work using tissue paper, acrylic, and polymer. Her collages featured bold landscapes and camp scenes, with larger shapes torn by hand and smaller elements precisely cut with scissors.

Kigusiuq was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2002. Her work appeared twice on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly and is held in collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of History, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She died on February 27, 2005, in Baker Lake, Nunavut.