About the Exhibition

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What does precarious work look like—not just in headlines or statistics, but in the day-to-day of people living through it? Rooted in Reality is a graphic novella–based exhibition by Rosemary Dzus that illustrates this experience through an unexpected cast of characters: anthropomorphized vegetables.

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Why vegetables? They’re overlooked. Disposable. Humble. And they don’t carry assumptions about who “belongs” in unstable work. In this way, they become stand-ins for anyone navigating jobs without benefits, contracts without security, and work without a future. They bring a touch of humour to what is otherwise a deeply serious and shared reality.

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For Dzus, this project is personal. After earning two academic degrees, she expected to build a stable career. What followed instead were years of contract work without benefits, security, or permanence. Later, when she encountered economist Guy Standing’s The Precariat, she found language for what she’d been living—and realized she wasn’t alone.

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The show weaves together stories many will recognize: juggling short-term gigs, chasing opportunity through more training, facing pressure to self-exploit, and never quite gaining the footing needed to plan ahead. Through story and image, Dzus names what has remained unnamed for too long: that the promise of stability through education or experience has eroded—and with it, our sense of what secure work even means.​

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Exhibition Run
November 7 – December 13, 2025
Tuesday to Friday, 10 AM – 4 PM; Saturday 12 – 5 PM
210 Gallery, 210 Princess Street, Winnipeg

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Opening Reception + First Fridays
Friday, November 7, 6–9 PM
Artist Talk by Rosemary Dzus at 7 PM

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Workshop: Story in Frames – Creating Your Own Graphic Novella

Saturday, November 15, 1–4 PM

Led by Rosemary Dzus

Free, ages 18+

All materials provided

Limited to 12 participants – registration required, click the button below​​​​​​​

Free Workshop