To watch a seed grow (2026)
Woody De Othello
To watch a seed grow is a large-scale cast aluminum sculpture by Woody De Othello, installed at the S. Second & San Carlos Garage. Rooted in Othello's ceramic practice and his ongoing exploration of anthropomorphized everyday objects, the work originates from the artist's hands-on process of sculpting and glazing familiar forms in clay. In this work, Othello transforms the recognizable face of a clock by jumbling its numbers, rendering the object nonfunctional. That material logic, native to the intimate scale of studio ceramics, is now translated to architectural dimensions of up to 16 feet wide and 15 feet high, clad in a durable surface finish that faithfully replicates the depth and texture of ceramic glaze. The work draws on the history of California ceramics as a foundational point of inspiration.
Woody De Othello, To watch a seed grow (Maquette), 2025, Ceramic and glaze, 13 x 10 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches / 33 x 26.7 x 7 cm (WDO00618ST), Photo: Phillip Maisel. Courtesy of the artist, Jessica Silverman, and Karma.
Artist photo: Jonah Reenders. Courtesy of the artist, Jessica Silverman, and Karma.
280 S Second St, San Jose, CA 95113
About the artist
Woody De Othello (b. 1991, Miami, FL) holds an MFA from the California College of Arts, San Francisco and a BFA from Florida Atlantic University. His solo exhibition at Pérez Art Museum Miami is on view through June 2026 and travels to the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art in the fall of 2026. Othello's work was included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial and has exhibited widely in group exhibitions at SFMOMA, San Francisco; Hayward Gallery, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, Washington D.C., among others. Othello has enjoyed large-scale public art commissions, including at San Francisco International Airport, de Young Museum, Brooklyn Bridge Park (organized by Public Art Fund), and John F. Kennedy Airport, which is slated to open in 2026. His work is in the permanent collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art; PAMM; SFMOMA; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Seattle Art Museum; LACMA, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Aishti Foundation, Beirut; MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome, Italy, and many more. Othello lives and works in Oakland, CA. He is represented by Karma and Jessica Silverman.