sister of Pudlo, Oshoochiak and Sam Pudlat, Simeonie Kopapik and Joe Jaw (half brother)--------------Francoise Oklaga (1924-1991) Franoise Oklaga was born on Southampton Island in 1924. The sister of the Cape Dorset artist Pudlo Pudlat (1916-1992), she was adopted at an early age and grew up in the vicinity of Chesterfield Inlet further west. In 1975 she moved inland to Baker Lake where, stimulated by the community's vibrant art scene, she began making drawings to sell.In a career that lasted fifteen years she produced many original works on paper, but only a handful were published as prints and included in Baker Lake's annual collections. Always something of an artistic outsider within her adopted community, Oklaga never abandoned her unrefined style and intense manner of expression. Many of her strongly coloured works depict human faces seen at close range with large staring eyes, often transforming into a variety of animals, birds and spirits.---------------Baker Lake's Francoise Oklaga has a less refined, gestural technique suited to her transformational imagery, Marion Scott gallery-------------------------------------

Exhibitions

• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Baker Lake - Uncatalogued Prints 1979-1985 A retrospective collection exhibited at selected galleries, organized by, Canadian Arctic Producers
• Baker Lake Print Collection *81, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *82, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *85, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *86, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *87, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *88, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Collection *90, (annual collection)
• Baker Lake Print Retrospective: A Twenty Year Anniversary, The Upstairs Gallery
• Baker Lake Prints 1985, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Baker Lake: Persistence of Old Memories, Brandon Allied Arts Council
• Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Coloured Drawings by Francoise Oklaga of Baker Lake, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
• Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Drawings from Baker Lake, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi, Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
• Kunst aus der Arktis, Volkerkundmuseum der Universitat Zurich
• Patiently I Sing Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection, Carleton University Art Gallery
• Qamanittuaq: Where the River Widens Drawings by Baker Lake Artists, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Qiviuq: A Legend in Art, Carleton University Art Gallery
• The Spirit of the Land, The Koffler Gallery
• Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery

Collections

• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown
• Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Publications

• DORSET 82. — Cape Dorset Graphics Annual, Author: West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, Publication: Toronto: M.F. Feheley Publishers. (1982)
• TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH PITALOOSIE SAILA — Interviewed by Sharon van Raalte, translation by Maata in May, 1985 in Cape Dorset, N.W.T., Author: CEAC [Canadian Eskimo Arts Council], Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Eskimo Arts Council in collaboration with the Inuit Art Section, INAC, amd the Natiional Film Board of Canada. (1985)