Maureen Gruben
(Inuvialuk), Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq
Tadjva! Bright Like Boom, 2024, Two prints, 48" x 38" each, archival inkjet on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique 310. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Kyra Kordoski
Moving with joy across the ice while my face turns brown from the sun, 2019, 120" x 42.5". AP #2/2
Archival inkjet on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique 310. Cooper Cole Collection. Photo credit: Laurence Poirier
Projection descriptions
Tadjva! Bright Like Boom
“Tadjva” is an Inuvialuktun expression that emphasizes truth or clarity, “That’s it!” or, “Right there!” In spring 2024, Maureen and her eldest sister Millie Gruben fleshed the hide of a polar bear harvested by local hunters. They used ulus to flesh fat followed by sugar snow to clean the fur. It was a laborious, joyful process that enriched connections to land, animals, and ancestors. Millie described the feeling of being wrapped in the bear hide as “bright, like boom!”
For Moving with joy across the ice while my face turns brown from the sun
Sleds have always been integral to Inuvialuit life and many are still hand-built; individual carpentry and rope knotting techniques trace material relationships to their makers. These traces become more pronounced as sleds are mended over time. For Moving with joy across the ice while my face turns brown from the sun, Gruben borrowed fourteen sleds from Tuktoyaktuk community members and brought them out onto the ice for a short-duration land art installation. Each sled is intimately connected to a family that has created, used, and maintained it. Their grouping here speaks to the strength of Arctic communities.
About the artist
Maureen Gruben’s multi-media practice incorporates organic and industrial materials that are often salvaged from her local environment. She was born and raised in Tuktoyaktuk where her parents were traditional Inuvialuit knowledge keepers and founders of E. Gruben’s Transport. Gruben holds a BFA from the University of Victoria. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in numerous public and private collections.
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