The Line is Drawn - dreams of marronage, refusal and revolution

Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present Trinidadian-Canadian artist Natalie Wood’s deconstructed cardboard works from 2006-2012 and a thematically poignant work from Letters To My Ancestors, (2002-2005). These works explore ideas of marronage, refusals, and revolution based on Wood’s research of Black Power movements across the Caribbean and the Atlantic World. Marronage, the act of self-liberation, resistance and revolution were standard practices of the enslaved during colonial times. These practices have a logic that is useful today in the face of fascist and oppressive forces that seek to dehumanize and trample on the rights of marginalized communities.

These works, created with pencil, cardboard, gesso and an X-Acto knife, ask the viewer to engage with logics of marronage from past practices to present futures. They create a boundary across time and against injustice, connecting us to unsung stories of refusal and revolution.

Natalie Wood's work cohabits the areas of popular culture, education and historical research, spanning the visual and media arts. Her practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, video and performance, and extends into her work as a curator, educator and community-based queer activist. The Line is Drawn is Wood's fourth solo exhibition with our gallery.


Born and raised in Trinidad, Natalie Wood arrived in Toronto in 1984 to study psychology, sociology and women's studies at the University of Toronto before obtaining her studio training at Ontario College of Art. Wood then went on to complete an MA in Art Education from OISE, at the University of Toronto, in 2000.

We first encountered Natalie’s work on Queen St West in 2001, in a series of grass roots group and solo exhibitions at Zsa Zsa, a small artist-run gallery a block away from us, with Thin Lizzie (2001), The Michael Jackson Project (2003), Relay (2003, a solo exhibition), and Pot Modern (2005), all curated by artist Andrew Harwood. Shortly after, her work was curated by, amongst others, Michelle Jacques, Nuit Blanche (2007), Scott McLeod, Prefix Institute (2007), Pamela Edmonds and Carla Garnet, Streaming Alterity, Art Gallery of Peterborough (2012) and Geneviève Wallen, OCADU (2015). Wood's video works have been screened at festivals including, the New York Mix Film and Video Festival, Inside Out, Images Festival, Pleasure Dome and the Mpenzi Film and Video festival where she won the Audience Choice Award in 2006. Recent exhibitions include the Aird Gallery (2020) in conjunction with the CONTACT Photography Festival (2020) and Charles St Video (2020). Wood's work was featured in the solo exhibition They Say We Can’t Breathe Underwater at A Space in 2022 and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (2024) at Paul Petro Contemporary Art.

Wood is currently a tenured Professor in the Social Service Work Program at George Brown College where she co-founded and coordinated their Social Innovation Hub, an early stage incubator. She is also pursuing a PhD through the Faculty of Environmental Studies program at York University. Exordium (2021), a concise twenty-year survey, was Wood's first exhibition at Paul Petro Contemporary Art.