In this next edition of the Inuit Futures “De-ICE-olation” online artist workshop series, Tarralik Duffy, artist entrepreneur of beloved jewelry and fashion design company Ugly Fish, taught us how to make sealskin (or other skin/hide) fringe earrings! The workshop took place online using Zoom. This workshop, like all De-ICE-olation workshops, was free.

The Inuit Futures project is proud to partner with the Inuit Art Foundation to share this event as a part of Inuit Futures’ De-ICE-olation online Inuit artist workshop series. We’re happy to use our platform to will be hosting a series of online gatherings to help us stay connected, alone together! 

Tarralik Duffy is a multi-talented artist, jeweller and writer from Salliq (Coral Harbour), NU currently based in Saskatoon, SK. Working primarily in jewellery design under her label Ugly Fish - named after her grandmother’s Inuktitut nickname, kanajuq or “ugly fish” - Tarralik uses materials gathered and salvaged from her home territory of Nunavut including beluga vertebrae, baleen, antler and sealskin. She also works with textiles to produce clothing, such as her syllabic print leggings and accessories.

Tarralik is also an accomplished writer. She won the Sally Manning Award in 2014 for her story “Don’t Cry Over Spilled Beads,” and her recent essay in the Inuit Art Quarterly, “Uvanga/Self: Picturing Our Identity,” was also included in the literary collection Best Canadian Essays of 2019. She has been frequently published by such magazines and journals as Up Here, above & beyond, and Inuktitut, and her short story “My Grandfather’s House” was published in the book You Care Too Much (2016); her work has also been featured in art publications like Canadian Art and on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly.

Learn more about her work here: https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/iad/artist/Tarralik-Duffy