Jinian Raine Harwig

About

I am an emerging Ottawa based artist working at the intersection of film, digital, and disability. At the age of 15, I woke up for school with what I thought was the flu. That flu never got better and I only got worse. 15 years later I am now 30, my mysterious illness continues to be mysterious and undiagnosed, my life has changed very much from that of the promising young 15 year old, but it has also changed and developed from the depressed and stunted 20 year old who followed her. Illness still runs more of my life than is comfortable,  but I have been able to progress despite it. A huge step in that progression was discovering my love of art and particularly experimental film while trudging through my bachelors. As my artistic journey began my practice and I flourished in tandem. Through art I am able to explore and recontextualize much of my horrid experiences with chronic and acute illness, I am able to give them narrative and by controlling that narrative I can reclaim some of the power that is constantly being pulled from me. Working under a research creation dogma, I incorporate heavy theory into all my works, and blend it with these highly personal experiences. This allows me to create art pieces that are accessible on multiple levels: intellectual, aesthetic and emotional. I am extremely passionate about my practice, it is a necessary medicine at this point, as I create and grow my ideas into artworks, they and the process nourishes me right back.

Awards

Trent University, Cultural Studies – Frith Prize for 2019-2020 “HFATES”

Trent University, Cultural Studies – Frith Prize for 2022 “Vasive”

Trent University, Cultural Studies – Honourable Mention 2023 “Light Body”

Trent University, Cultural Studies – Frith Prize for 2025 “an active dying”

Publications

Absynth Magazine – Summer 2023- Collage –link

Trent University Alternative Arts Collective – March|power  – Collage- link

tba: Journal of Art, Media, and Visual Culture, Western University – FRICTION -February, 02, 2025 – “Light Body” –link

Exhibitions

“Outdoor Experimental Film Screenings” First Fridays- Peterborough ON,  November, 6, 2020. “HFATES”

“Culture X: Bodies in Nature”, Bodies Online Artspace – Peterborough ON,- Jun 2 – Aug 31, 2021 – link ‘Invisible Screen”

“Cultural Studies Student Show” Artspace – Peterborough ON,  Jun 18 – Sept 20, 2022 – link “Vasive”

“Bathroom” Fabricated Gallery – Online,  April 2022- link “Tother”

“Performance/Process” Artspace- Peterborough ON, With Brad Brackenridge (Collaborative Film) – March – May 20, 2023 “30, 10, 1”

“Painting Performance” Artspace/First Friday – Peterborough ON, November 3rd, 2023 “no experience”

“Gifts of Madness” Penticton Art Gallery- Penticton BC, March 23-May 11, 2024 “Vasive” and “HFATES”

“Fluxus Experimental Film Festival” Factory Media Centre – Hamilton ON, September 22nd, “Vasive”

“Face/Waste” Industrial Arts- Markham ON, October 19-December 15 2024, “Sleeping With”

“Mental Filmness 2024” Virtual Festival- Chicago IL, November 2024, “Paper Veil”

“Intimate Encounters” Gachet Gallery – Vancouver BC, November 14th-January 24th, 2025

“Culture X: An Exhibition of Student Artwork” – Peterborough ON,- June 2025 – “an active dying”