Woody De Othello constructs intentionally wonky, anthropomorphized sculptures of common artifacts of domestic life—tables, radiators, flower vases, lamps, television sets—in glazed ceramic, bronze, wood, and glass. Othello infuses his work with humor, whimsy, and touches of African “Nkisi,” a belief system in which spirits inhabit everyday objects. In both his sculptures and works on paper, Othello imbues these static household objects with movement and emotion—they are often stretched or slumped over, seemingly overcome by gravity. He spent some time at Paulson Fontaine Press in 2021, saying this about the experience, “I wanted to make these compositions that were dense and, as I said, layered. It takes a little time for the print to reveal itself. Here there is an arm that loops around. And this shirt in the back became a type of wallpaper. And there’s another hand clutching the inside of some thighs. All this stuff got lost in the way I handled the colors. It’s like I broke the image apart.”
