J.T. Winik

BIOGRAPHY: 

JT Winik is a Canadian visual artist whose figurative paintings explore themes of isolation, introspection and the fusion of contrary states of being. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Canada, The Netherlands and Mexico and she is currently represented in galleries in Toronto, Prince Edward County, Montreal, and Amsterdam. Her paintings have been featured in national magazines, books and book covers in Canada, Holland, Turkey and England. She paints full time from her studio and has spent extensive periods working at studios in Spain and Holland. Her work has been collected throughout Canada, the USA and Europe.

She is often called upon to contribute her expertise as an adjudicator of exhibitions, most recently, for the Kingston Arts Council’s Juried Arts Salon 2015, the inaugural exhibition at The Tett Arts Centre. As former gallery director of The Kingston Artist’s centre (now The Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre) she organized and participated in the adjudication of new media art exhibitions by regional, national and international artists. Chosen as one of forty arts professionals, she participated in the Limestone Learning Foundation’s mentorship program which allows talented youths one-on-one guidance in the arts, media, design and music and showcases their work at the grand 2015 Crystal Ball Gala fundraising event.

Also a writer, she maintains a blog, I Spy, which explores a variety of themes, including art-related issues. As a lyricist, she is a recent winner of the International Songwriting Competition (honourable mention) for her lyrics, Old Dreams.

Beyond writing and painting, she also pursues creativity in cooking. Both her work and recipes are featured in three cookbooks, Artacuina I, II and III, with a fourth in progress. Representing the work of several Dutch artists who exhibit with Arta Casa, Amsterdam, these full-colour books are published in both The Netherlands and Germany.

artistic approach: 

“As an artist, it is difficult to draw a line between one’s work and one’s life – there is no separation. Creativity creeps into and often permeates most areas of what I do, whether writing a letter, preparing a meal, or standing at my easel with a palette of colours. My deep, overall interest is people – how we interact with others and with ourselves – and I think that drives much of my imagery, my words and even the combinations of what I choose to serve a friend for dinner. Yet, in any of these areas, there is a balance between what you want to do (the idea) and allowing yourself enough freedom to get there (intuition). To achieve the latter I am constantly reminding myself that ‘nothing is carved in stone’ and that what begins as one thing might, if you allow it, become something quite different but far more enriching.”