Justine Woods, Margo Farr, Alex Gregory

parafutures: storying between the fragments explores alternative conceptions of time, being, and futurity that lie outside the predominantly Western, colonial notion that time is linear and homogenous. The prefix ‘para’ refers to the state of being adjacent to, alongside, beyond, or aside from (Merriam-Webster). In an increasingly volatile world shaped by political and ecological instability, hope in a singular future is rapidly diminishing. As a possible way forward, the term ‘parafutures’ encapsulates the notion that hope can be found between the fragments of fractured futurity, in the life-worlds that persist alongside and adjacent to the dominant narrative of linear time and cultural homogeneity.

parafutures features works by garment artist Justine Woods, sculpture and installation artist Margo Farr, and mixed-media artist Alex Gregory, who combines analog and digital forms of artistic manipulation. Woods’ design practice foregrounds her self-identification as a “Penetanguishene Halfbreed” by centering Indigenous fashion technologies and garment-making as practice-based methods of inquiry toward re-stitching alternative worlds of Indigenous resurgence and liberation. Farr’s practice explores the dichotomy of hope and futility in the face of dispossession, while drawing inspiration from nature and its potential to heal. Meanwhile, Gregory foregrounds the potential for non-human forms of agency to directly shape the art- making process. By placing their work in dialogue, curator Nina Bakan holds space for considering the themes of time and futurity as inherently heterogenous, dispersed, multidirectional, and rife with possibility.