Artist Spotlight: PIQSIQ
With a style perpetually galvanized by darkness and haunting northern beauty, sisters, Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, come together to create Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ. Performing ancient traditional songs and eerie new compositions, they leave their listeners enthralled with the infinity of possible answers to the question “what is the meaning of life.”
With roots in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq Regions, the sisters grew up in Yellowknife, NWT, where endless sunlight shines for two short summer months and deep, wintery darkness consumes the rest of the year. These environmental extremes had a huge impact on Tiffany and Kayley’s overall aesthetic and the pair have always engrossed themselves in creating soundtracks to life that reflect this natural phenomenon.
PIQSIQ’s name stems from the sisters’ shared feelings of confusion regarding their identities growing up. In Inuktut, a “piqsiq” is a type of storm where winds blow in a very specific way, making it look like the snow is falling back up towards the sky. Being children of blended backgrounds, born into two very different worlds, Kayley and Tiffany always felt they had to navigate strange cultural waters, but have learned to embrace the joys and challenges of mixed Indigeneity today. The sisters have found comfort in the thought that “two halves make a whole.” Whatever way it’s falling, snow is snow and true to their name, PIQSIQ is dedicated to mixing things up.
Visit PIQSIQ’s website for tour and booking info!
