Justine Woods

Justine Woods (she/her) is a garment artist, creative scholar, and educator with a focus on Indigenous fashion, Indigenous arts-based methodologies, performance and embodiment, and research-creation. She is a Doctoral Candidate in the Media and Design Innovation PhD program at Toronto Metropolitan University, holds a Master of Design in Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design from OCAD University, and a Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design from Toronto Metropolitan University.

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Justine’s research and design practice centres Indigenous fashion technologies and garment-making as practice-based methods of inquiry toward restitching alternative worlds that prioritize Indigenous resurgence and liberation. Her research situates re-stitching as both a theoretical framework and embodied practice in exploring how the act of garment-making done by the Indigenous body can regenerate Indigenous ontology and re-stitch new worlds and futurities. Justine’s work has been included in both solo and group exhibitions across so-called Canada hosted by the Art Gallery of Guelph, Quest Art Gallery, Fifty Fifty Arts Collective, Between Pheasants Contemporary, DesignTO, and the MacLaren Arts Centre. Her writing has been published in a variety of scholarly journals such as Fashion Studies, Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, and Scene.

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Justine's Métis family names are Vasseur, St. Onge, Lafrenière, and Berger-Beaudoin. Her familial ties span the Red River, where her ancestors fought at the Battle of Seven Oaks; Michilimackinac, present-day Mackinac Island, in Northern Michigan; and Penetanguishene, Ontario, where multiple members of her family signed the Penetanguishene Halfbreed Petition of 1840. She is a registered citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and a Métis rights-holder with Section 35 Indigenous rights.

 

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