A Bit About Me

I’m Saelym DeGrandpre, an urban Inuk artist and graphic designer based in Ottawa, with my family from Baker Lake, Nunavut. My creative practice brings together Inuit storytelling, contemporary design, and my love of working across many different forms of art.

I work across digital illustration, graphic design, carving, printmaking, jewelry, and public art, combining traditional and contemporary materials and techniques. My work is often bold, detailed, and story-driven, inspired by my Inuit culture, identity, womanhood, community, and intergenerational knowledge.

Through Taqqiq, I’ve turned that practice into a multidisciplinary creative business. My work ranges from custom illustrations and graphic design to large-scale murals, public installations, publications, educational resources, branding, workshops, jewelry, and cultural and community projects.

I’ve had the opportunity to create work for organizations and institutions across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada, La Guilde, CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, Ontario Health, Canadian History Society, and Pow Wow Pitch, along with many Indigenous-led organizations and community collaborations.

I’m a graduate of Toronto Film School’s Graphic Design & Interactive Media program and Algonquin College, where I studied Indigenous Studies. My background in both design and visual art has given me the ability to move between very different types of projects while keeping storytelling and strong visual communication at the centre of what I create.

Whether I’m illustrating digitally, carving antler, designing a mural, pulling a print, or creating a piece of jewelry, I’m always exploring new ways to bring Inuit storytelling and my own contemporary perspective into the work I create.