Woody De Othello: coming forth by day

Miami-born artist Woody De Othello brings a personal body of work to Pérez Art Museum Miami with coming forth by day, his first solo museum exhibition in the city. Rooted in his deep connection to Miami and his ongoing exploration of ancestral heritage, the installation takes shape through ceramic and wood sculptures, tiled wall works and a large-scale bronze, all set within an environment of clay-painted walls and subtle herbal scents.

Drawing from precolonial and diasporic African traditions, Othello incorporates references to nkisi power figures, Dogon ritual objects and Egyptian pyramids, alongside inspiration from spiritual practices and hermetic philosophy. His anthropomorphic forms lean, rest and embrace with quiet vitality, suggesting the weight of memory and emotion.

Known for animating everyday objects through hand-built ceramics, Othello blurs the line between body and object—turning mirrors, clocks and vessels into figures that reflect unseen forces shaping daily life. Through this material and symbolic language, coming forth by day considers how objects absorb history, hold meaning and become vessels for spiritual and emotional experience.