Rebecca Wood: On Being Despised
June 18–August 2
Student Gallery
On Being Despised is a photographic installation that reimagines the feminine and domestic through the lens of history and personal archive. Set in the gardens of the Bloomsbury Group, the work juxtaposes re-exposed wartime images from the artist’s late maternal grandmother with contemporary photographs of key garden spaces linked to Virginia Woolf. Using homemade botanical developers, the installation explores themes of gender fluidity, war, and creative transformation. By challenging binaries and drawing connections to Indigenous kinship systems, this project offers a speculative space for metamorphosis, healing, and the layering of stories in response to intersecting global crises.
Rebecca Wood's work draws on research supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Rebecca Wood, Book of Gynandromorphs, 2025. Ink jet on fabric. 72”x100.”
Rebecca Wood, In the Garden After the War, 1950’s to 2025. Ink jet print on archival paper.
Artist Bio
Rebecca Wood is a multidisciplinary artist exploring relationships in the era of Hyperobjects. Through layered photographic materials, her work challenges binary thinking and highlights the circular nature of time, addressing the escalating hostility toward women. Committed to a speculative documentary practice, Wood avoids reinforcing dominant narratives. A professional photographer for over 20 years, she holds a BFA from the University of Guelph and is pursuing an MFA in Documentary Media Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University with a SSHRC research award. Wood has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Contact Photo Festival, Milk Glass Gallery, and Gallery LeDeco in Tokyo.
