Artist Statement and CV

Jinari Mountain

Jinari’s art spans painting, drawing, textiles, and installation.  Her work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas; she has worked as a commercial artist and has curated group shows and community art events.

My practice, while ever evolving, commonly examines intersections of ecological cycles, ancestral narratives, and material transformation.

Influenced by my cultural heritage and family history, I reflect on intergenerational trauma and resilience, engaging mythic and environmental themes while posing questions about regeneration and persistence. 

The ongoing impacts of my refugee grandfather’s escape from post‑WW2 Hungary, and the duality of being descended from Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian captives, are rich family narratives on which I draw.  I ponder what such inheritance means for understanding power, care, materiality, ecological empathy and responsibility.

Recent works are crafted from domestic plastic waste; bread bags are transformed into forms both seductive and unsettling, such as past-present networking and primordial temptations. 

In making something 'beautiful' from a material implicated in ocean pollution, I am in dialogue with the sea journeys of my ancestors and the skills I imagine some of them held for living more sustainably. 

These objects for remembering keep my hands busy.  What skills do I have, what can my bones recall into being, and what networks can I develop to stave off the feeling of being flotsam?

Jinari is an independent artist, living and working on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, in the central Victorian town of Castlemaine.  She considers herself privileged to have created and exhibited alongside Australian and North American First Nations Elders, including Aunty Rochelle Patten (Yorta Yorta), Uncle Allan Parsons (Bijira), and Grandfather Maynard Eakan (Inupaiq). 

I hold these friendships and teachings with deep respect and acknowledge their profound influence on my thinking about reciprocity, respect, storytelling and cultural continuity.



Studio visits welcome by appointment. 



CV

Born

1975 Melbourne, Vic, Australia 

Education

2017-2019 Master of Teaching, Deakin University

2003-2005 Diploma of Holistic Counselling, Ikon Institute

1994-1999 Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science, Monash University.


Exhibitions:

2026 Brunswick Street Gallery Fifty Squared Art Prize

2022 Lot 19 Spring Sculpture Prize, Lot 19 Art Space

2018 Lot 19 Spring Sculpture Prize, Lot 19 Art Space

2016 Terrain, with Helene Athanasiadis, The Diggers Store

2015 Earth Heart Beat, Moora Moora Festival

2015 I Know You Myth Me, solo show, Brunswick Street Gallery

2015 Small Works Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery

2015 Future-Hindsight, Respond to This, Castlemaine State Festival 

2015 Fire and Honey, Jinari Mountain and Allis Hamilton (Maun) poetry, stories and sung word. Castlemaine Fringe Festival

2014   Land - e - scapes, Gallery @ City Library, curated by Jinari Mountain.  

2014 Works on Paper, Solo Hanging, Apple Annie's

2014 Drawn-out Moments & Sketchy Lines with Allis Hamilton (Maun), CASPA Gallery

2014 Organic Material: Flora and Fauna, Brunswick Street Gallery 

2014 Arts Open Festival, Castlemaine, open studio

2013 Studio Soiree with Helene Athanasiadis, Lot 19 Art Space

2013 Castlemaine Artists Market Gallery Show, Lot 19 Gallery

2013 The Cycle of Things, with Curt Mountain, Gallery @ City Library

2013, The Healing Well, solo hanging, The Healing Well

2013 Maldon Art Show

2013 Moolana Yakama, Lot 19 Gallery, curated by Jinari Mountain 

2013 Listed, Castlemaine Fringe Festival

2012 For we are Young and Free, Toyota Community Spirit Gallery Melbourne Exhibition and Awards

2011 The Artists’ Alley Downtown San Francisco 

2011 Born For This, studio show, Castlemaine State Festival 

2011 Birth Babies & the Big V, aHa Studio and Gallery

2010 Land and Spirit, with Rosy McKenry, Phee Broadway Theatre

2007 Loss and Grief, Castlemaine Art Gallery

2006 Goodfoods 

2005 Castlemaine Fringe Festival

2002 Portrait Exhibition, Castlemaine Fringe Festival

2000 Dreams, Castlemaine Fringe Festival

1992 Next Wave Festival Melbourne

             
 
Prizes:
 
· The Salvage Yard Prize, Spring Sculpture Prize, Lot 19, 2018

· 62nd Blake Prize 2013 - Shortlisted/Director's Cut Selection, 2013

·  4th International Artavita Competition -  Special Recognition in 2013

·  Galiara International Juried Art Prize - Special Recognition Award, 2011

·  Galiara International Juried Art Prize - Shortlisted 2011

·  Age/Nikon Photography Competition - Special Encouragement Award 1992

·  Age/Nikon Photography Competition - Heat Winner 1992

·  City of Collingwood Photographic Competition - First Prize 1992

·  Illford Student Photographic Competition - First Prize 1992

 

 
 Publications:

.   Orchre and Silk (formerly Daily Imprint) March 2016 https://www.ochreandsilk.com.au/blogs/daily-imprint/167619335-artist-jinari-mountain

. Scars between the Lines - poetry and writings by Jinari Mountain, self-published, 2015

·  Where is the Wild - poetry and writings by Jinari Mountain, self-published, 2014

·  Important World Artists Today - Curated by Despina Tunberg and published by World Wide Art Books, California, 2013

·  2011 International Contemporary Art Masters Vol. 5, Curated by Despina Tunberg and published by World Wide Art Books, California, 2011

·  How to Love a Harpy – poetry and writings by Jinari Mountain, self-published, 2011



 

 Commercial photographic and graphic art works for:

· Mount of Alex Bookstore

.  Aurora Calling Theatre Company

·  Above and Below Jewellery

·  Green Goes the Grocer

·  Spiral Domes

·  The Blenders

·  Castlemaine Community House

·  Soaring Heart and Earth Lover Clothing

·  Santa’s Photo Factory

·  Wholefoods Restaurant

·  Monash Environment Group

·  The Preston Computer Group

·  Bismilla Café

·  Photo Portrait Commissions, various private

 

 

Art Classes/Art Therapy Work:

·  Life Drawing Tutor, Seven Sisters Festival, 2014

.  Drawing Down the Moon, private group art classes for women, 2013

·  Session facilitator for Interchange Loddon Campaspe, Art and Art Therapy activities, 2009

·  Private art therapy clients 2006 – 2013

·  Tutor for Art from the Start, for Castlemaine Community House 2005

·  Session facilitator for Loddon Prison’s Stronger Families program, 2005, 2006 and 2007


  

Community Art Events:

·  Moolana Yakama Art Festival - event production and curator, 2013

·  Rye Interfaith Peace Festival, Art Space Facilitator, 2008

·  Organiser and MC for Mothers for Peace Community Mandala 2003

·  Organiser and Facilitator of Mothers for Peace Mandala Making Workshop, Castlemaine Inter-faith and Peace Festival 2003



 


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