Exhibitions
Woody De Othello explores body, earth and spirit in his first solo exhibition in Miami.
The Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) presents Coming Forth by Day , the first solo museum exhibition by artist Woody De Othello in his hometown, opening November 13, 2025. The show brings together an entirely new group of works, including hand-modeled sculptures, mosaic murals, and a large-scale bronze sculpture.
Through this immersive installation, De Othello explores the primordial relationship between body, earth, and spirit, employing materials that invite rootedness, such as walls painted with clay and subtle herbal fragrances, which amplify the sensory and spiritual dimension of his artistic practice.
Woody De Othello. Installation: Untitled Works, 2025. Courtesy of the artist, Jessica Silverman, i Karma. Photo: Phillip Maisel.
Woody De Othello (Miami, 1991) is an American artist known for his work in ceramics, though he also works with bronze, wood, and paint. He studied at Florida Atlantic University, where he earned his BFA, and completed an MFA at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2017. He currently lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Her work begins with everyday, domestic objects—such as fans, telephones, glasses, or mirrors—which she deforms, exaggerates, or anthropomorphizes, endowing them with presence, emotion, and a sculptural quality. In this process, De Othello connects the everyday with the symbolic, incorporating references to spiritual traditions of the African diaspora and ritual objects, such as the nkisi of Central Africa, allowing her to explore the relationship between the body, memory, and objects.
Woody De Othello, Ibeji, 2022. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami. © Woody De Othello. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman Gallery. Photo: Eric Ruby.
It presents a new series of ceramic and wood sculptures, along with tiled wall works and a large-format bronze piece, that explore the fundamental relationship between body, earth, and spirit. The immersive installation is complemented by an environment of natural materials, including clay-painted walls and subtle herbal aromas, creating a unique sensory experience.
Rooted in pre-colonial and diasporic African traditions, Othello draws on spiritual practices, Hermetic philosophy, and cultural objects such as nkisi spiritual power figures, Dogon ritual artifacts, and Egyptian pyramids. His anthropomorphic sculptures, with their richly glazed surfaces, convey a serene vitality; their forms seem to lean, rest, or embrace, as if molded by the weight of memory and emotion.
