Painted close-up of multiple overlapping hands, each wrist marked with a small portrait face; the hands gesture toward one another over a pale green patterned background.
News

SHIFT/WORK: Portraits of Precarity Opens March 5 at the School of Art Gallery

Artist Lisa Wood’s research-driven exhibition examines precarious labour and everyday life

The School of Art Gallery presents SHIFT/WORK: Portraits of Precarity, a multimedia research exhibition by Lisa Wood, opening March 5, 2026, with a public reception from 5:00–8:00 PM. The exhibition runs through May 1, 2026.

Developed over more than two years, SHIFT/WORK brings together layered paintings, sculptural forms, sound collages, and narrative drawings that translate lived experiences of precarious labour into visual and sensory form. Wood worked alongside artist research assistants Renata Truelove, Michael Vachon, and Dhairya Vaidya, drawing directly from participant interviews and photo- and text-based reflections gathered from rural Manitobans navigating insecure, short-term, and contract-based work.

The exhibition emerges from Precarious Work and Mental Health: Exploring Uncertainty through Research-Creation, a multidisciplinary project supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Wood collaborated closely with counselling psychologist Breanna Lawrence (University of Victoria, Principal Investigator) and rural health geographer Rachel Herron (Brandon University) to explore how employment instability shapes everyday life, family relationships, and mental well-being.

Rather than presenting research through conventional data visualization, SHIFT/WORK foregrounds emotional resonance and embodied experience. As Wood explains, “Art allows us to represent the complexity of precarious work in a way that traditional data cannot. Through painting, drawing, sculpture, and sound, we can convey fragmentation, entanglement, and resilience in ways that resonate emotionally and intellectually. The voices and experiences of participants are at the heart of this work.”

At its core, SHIFT/WORK proposes artistic practice as both method and outcome—bringing together community engagement, academic research, and cross-disciplinary exchange in a shared mode of production. A printed exhibition brochure accompanies the show, featuring an original collaborative text by guest writers Kerri-Lynn Reeves and Chelsey Campbell, commissioned by the School of Art Gallery.

Panel Discussion — March 5, 12:00–1:30 PM

A public panel with Lisa Wood, Breanna Lawrence (participating remotely), and Renata Truelove will take place on opening day from 12:00–1:30 PM in Room 368, offering audiences insight into the project’s research-creation process and collaborative framework.

SHIFT/WORK: Portraits of Precarity has previously been presented at Brandon University and the University of Alberta, and now arrives at School of Art Gallery as part of its ongoing commitment to socially engaged, research-driven contemporary art.

Painted figure seated against a white background, wearing a green striped shirt, with hands resting open while black and red wire-like elements emerge from the chest.
Dangle/Knots Lisa Wood, Renata Truelove, 2025. Oil paint and coloured pencil on drafting film; paper sculpture element from reproductions of artwork by D.Vaidya.
Headshot of Lisa Wood smiling softly, with shoulder-length grey hair and short bangs, wearing a black blazer over a light top against a pale background.

About the School of Art Gallery

Founded in 1965 as Gallery One One One, the School of Art Gallery serves the School of Art, the University of Manitoba, and broader communities through exhibitions, collecting, outreach, and publishing. Since 2012, the Gallery has been situated at the entrance to ARTlab, positioning it as both a physical and philosophical gateway—where contemporary exhibition-making and research-led inquiry meet.

The Gallery includes two exhibition spaces and a significant permanent collection focused on Manitoban, Canadian, and Indigenous art, alongside the FitzGerald Study Centre Collection devoted to Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald and his contemporaries. Through exhibitions and collections research, the Gallery aims to represent a wide range of practices and perspectives, fostering critical engagement while supporting creativity and research across undergraduate and graduate communities.

Visit: 255 ARTlab, 180 Dafoe Road, University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus), Winnipeg
Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 am–5:00 pm (or by appointment)
Contact: gallery@umanitoba.ca | 204-474-9322

umanitoba.ca/art/gallery