Nicotye Samayualie

Nicotye Samayualie is an Inuit graphic artist born in 1983 in Cape Dorset (Kinngait), Nunavut. She comes from a multi-generational family of artists, including her grandmother, Keeleemeeoomee Samayualie, and her aunt, Pitseolak Niviaqsi. Samayualie began making art regularly around 2011, drawing primarily at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Studios in Kinngait.

Samayualie works predominantly in colored pencil and ink on paper. Her compositions frequently explore contemporary northern life by focusing on everyday domestic objects, patterns, infrastructure, and local landscape topography. Rather than traditional figurative narratives, her work often isolates repeat patterns found in textiles, household goods, tools, and natural rock formations.

Her work began appearing in the official Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection in the 2010s. In 2013, she completed an artist residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Her drawings were included in the major public survey exhibition Shine a Light: Canadian Biennial 2014 at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Samayualie's artwork is held in the permanent collections of public institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG-Qaumajuq), and the Art Gallery of Ontario. She continues to live and practice in Kinngait.