Nancy Saunders (Niap) - Artist-in-Residence, Inuit Cultural Educator

Nancy Saunders (Niap)

Artist-in-Residence, Inuit Cultural Educator

Nancy is an Inuit multidisciplinary visual artist, especially recognized for her watercolours and line drawings.

Nancy Saunders (also known by her art name Niap) is a multi-media artist with roots from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Québec, who only realized her natural talent for drawing in 2012. She is currently studying at Montreal’s Cégep du Vieux-Montreal in the Visual Arts program.

“I struggle with the question of ‘what is Inuit art?’ I am living in the city but very much influenced by my Inuit culture, so I try to reconcile both worlds in my work because both inspire me very much. I try to incorporate both urban and Inuit elements in my pieces.” Nancy Saunders, 2016

Nancy is known for her realism drawings done in pencil. Acrylic and watercolor painting have also been a focus for some years, and during the Nunavik Art Workshops in 2015, Nancy discovered her capability in soapstone carving. Aumaaggiivik, the Nunavik Arts Secretariat, has awarded her with two artistic grants.

Nancy’s creativeness is stirred by Inuit culture and its mystical stories and creatures in legends. Nancy’s portrait titled Elashuk was selected as the winner at a drawing contest held in Nunavik by the Tulattavik Health Centre. She had her first co-exhibition at the McClure Gallery in November of 2015 and currently has some of her artwork exhibited at Studio Georgeville in Magog, Québec.