Qualeasha Wood
b. 1996, Long Branch, NJ, USALives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Qualeasha Wood is a textile artist whose work contemplates realities around black female embodiment that do and might exist. Inspired by a familial relationship to textiles, queer craft, Microsoft Paint and internet avatars, Wood's tufted and tapestry pieces mesh traditional craft and contemporary technological materials. Together, Qualeasha navigates both an Internet environment saturated in Black Femme figures and culture, and a political and economic environment holding that embodiment at the margins. Like the vast majority of her age-peers, Wood has operated one mortal and multiple digital avatars since pre-adolescence. For her what are intuitive combinations of analog and cybernetic compositional processes make for a plainly contemporary exploration of Black American Femme ontology.
CURRICULUM VITAE. SELECT PRESS.
Linguistics, 2024Woven jacquard, sterling silver and machine embroidery
71¾ x 56½ x 4 in.
182.25 x 143.51 x 10.16 cm
come outside, (we finna jump u), 2024
Woven jacquard, glass seed beads, and machine embroider
80 x 59 in.
203.20 x 149.86 cm
Keyboard Warrior, 2023
Woven Jacquard, Glass Beads
60 x 160 in.
152.40 x 406.40 cm
Woven Jacquard, Glass Beads
60 x 160 in.
152.40 x 406.40 cm
The [Black] Madonna-Whore Complex, 2021
Cotton Jacquard weave, glass beads
71 x 54 x ½ inches
Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art
Installation View: Manic Pixie Magical Negro, solo exhibition, Kendra Jayne Patrick, New York City, 2023
playdate, 2024
tufted wool and acrylic
55 x 51 x 1⅜ in.
139.70 x 129.54 x 3.51 cm
Swag Surfin, 2023
Cotton Jacquard weave, glass beads
84 x 56 inches
To Catch a Predator, 2023
Tufted wool and acrylic
104 x 82.5 inches
don't touch nothin', 2024
tufted wool and acrylic
25 x 25 in.
63.50 x 63.50 cm
Installation View: solo presentation with Kendra Jayne Patrick at Art Basel Miami Beach 2021
Peep Show, 2023
Woven Jacquard, Glass Beads
56 x 80 in.
142.24 x 203.20 cm
Familiar Strangers, 2022
Tufting
72 x 72 in.
182.88 x 182.88 cm.
The Rennie Collection
Cotton Jacquard weave, glass seed beads
54 x 71 x ⅛ inches