By Monogli Nasogaluak
My name is Monogli Nasogaluak, I was born and raised in Yellowknife, NWT. I have Sahtu-Dene and Inuvialuit heritage: my mom is from Délı̨nę, and my dad is from Tuktuyaaqtuuq. I have been drawing and creating artwork for 20 years, and now plan to create a career out of it. I identify as Two-Spirit, and my pronouns are she/they. My artistic goals at the moment are still being figured out, but I hope to inspire others to follow their own creative journey, and send my own messages to others through my artwork.”
WHAT INSPIRED YOU?
I really gained inspiration from people like myself and also the Indigenous women I see and interact with in my own life. I know strong Indigenous mothers, who try their best to raise their own children in their culture, and whose strength I acknowledge and respect. I know Indigenous Two-Spirit people, who, despite the hatred that lives in this world, still stand strong and firm within their own identity. I tried to capture the beauty of that sense of strength and pride that I personally feel when looking up to these people.
WHAT DO THE IMAGES REPRESENT?
They’re just depictions of Indigenous women, children, and Two-Spirit people. There are Indigenous women, particularly Inuit, since the drawings for the Walk to Tuk art-based project, and Tuktoyaktuk does fall on Inuit territory. People may notice that the facial features are left out, and I did this on purpose, because for one, I didn’t want to “accidentally” draw real people, I don’t draw portraits of people without their consent. And I also wanted to try and allow people to kind of see themselves within this drawing, like kind of place themselves in the art piece; all the Indigenous women, children, and Two-Spirit people who deserve to see their representation.
CAN YOU WRITE WHAT THE PROCESS WAS LIKE?
I had a fun process, drawing always makes me feel happy, and I always take advantage of any opportunity to draw something related to myself, being an Indigenous Two-Spirit person. The process, albeit fun, was sort of stressful, as I had to figure out what exactly to draw, and how I could make it look as pretty as possible. Thankfully, I got the drawing done, I think it looks beautiful, and more thankfully, the client does as well.
WHAT TOOLS DID YOU USE?
I drew this on Procreate, which I have been slowly getting used to in the past few months. I normally create traditional artwork, but after trying to establish myself as an artist, I wanted to try and expand my own art skill, and move towards a digital platform. I did first sketch on a sketchpad with a pencil, but I drew the final art piece in Procreate. I recently purchased an iPad and wanted to make use of it.