CAN One of the first artists to make prints at Kinngait Studios in Cape Dorset, Canada, in the late 1950s, Mikkigak returned to art making in 1999. His large-scale drawings represent the aesthetic qualities of the land and its function as a mnemonic device that can trigger memories of its own prior use and significance. Written descriptions in Inuktitut syllabics underscore the significance of certain sites—in Composition (Landscape) he writes: “Aiviruja is in the mainland, not near the ocean. The highest point has very good scenery.” While he was born out on the land rather than in a settlement, Mikkigak’s drawings are not nostalgic for a lost past, they represent a contemporary present, where intimate knowledge links land with life.