See Works by Artist Woody De Othello in Miami

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“My ancestry extends back in time through Haiti to Egypt,” says Woody De Othello to explain his fascination with the ancient culture that informs his exhibition, coming forth by day (through June 28, 2026), at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. “I have revolutionary blood running through me, and I have long understood, thanks to my parents, that we are spirits incarnate manifested in physical bodies. This is synthesized into who I am and everything I do.”

  This level of emotion is expressed through De Othello’s ceramic and wood sculptures, and tiled wall works, all of which have a quiet vitality about them and each of which is shaped by the weight of memory and emotion. The exhibition’s title references the Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Coming Forth by Day, an ancient funerary text that’s meant to serve as a guide through the afterlife. De Othello envisioned the sacred space that will surround his works, which he sees as an atmosphere for introspection, to hold a constellation of wall-mounted ceramics and glazed mosaics.

  “My life is changing of late: I’m married, and we are expecting a child, so throughout the entirety of constructing the works for the exhibition, I’ve been meditating about creation and the origins of spirits,” he says. “I’ve been fixated on how I can minimize my ego and make space for the greater forces of power that dictate me.”

As part of the show, a freestanding wooden pyramid structure will be fitted with shelves to hold crystals, incense, and ceramic objects, while pieces express one of the artist’s deepest emotions, tenderness.

“Preparing for fatherhood has brought a perspective shift—it’s not just about me anymore; it’s about family,” says De Othello. “The timing of everything has been powerful: Trying to conceive and talking about how we want to raise a family coalesced with the creation of the work and affirmed for me that there isn’t a demarcation between art and life.”  

Story Credits:

Text by Saxon Henry

Artworks courtesy of Pérez Art Museum Miami; Woody De Othello portrait courtesy of Jessica Silverman Gallery