Current Art Fund Supports 1328 Bruce Street
Wow. I’m happy to share that I’ve been awarded a 2026 Current Art Fund grant. It will support 1328 Bruce Street, a sculpture project at my grandparents’ former home. The house is in Memphis’s historic Orange Mound neighborhood.
I plan to develop three outdoor sculptures using wood and concrete with steel armatures. The project draws on my family’s history and the architecture of the house, built in 1932. This funding will help me move from sketches and small studies to building the sculptures.
Thank you to Tri-Star Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for making this support possible! I’ll share experiments and progress here as my project develops.
Following the Wood: My Visit to the NHLA
I’ve driven through this part of Memphis many times. I painted a mural for Hunter Fan just down the street, and I must have passed the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) sign dozens of times without really seeing it. Now the building feels significant.
I visited NHLA headquarters on August 31 to connect with specialists in the lumber industry. My maternal grandfather worked for the E.L. Bruce Company, and I am researching that history as I think about the future of my grandparents’ former home at 1328 Bruce Street in Orange Mound, Memphis. My dream is to transform the house into a studio space. That vision also includes building outdoor sculptures for the property, and I need to understand wood on a much deeper level to make that happen.
1328 Bruce St., Orange Mound, Memphis, TN
My connection to NHLA started at the new Memphis Art Museum building back in May. I was invited to tour the museum, where Melissa Whitby pointed out some of the intentional flooring choices made for the museum. I mentioned my family lumber project, and Melissa told me she had a contact I should meet. I finally emailed her in late August, thankful that she remembered our conversation, and she introduced me to Dallin Brooks.
When you walk into the headquarters, you smell the wood immediately. Wood slabs cover the walls and other surfaces. Some are installed at 45-degree angles to form a chevron pattern, one of my favorites. Each office highlights a different species of wood. I remember butternut, American elm, black willow, sweet gum, Lauan, and several others.
Dallin gave me a full tour of the building, grounds, classrooms, and equipment. I saw student work, including turned wooden bowls, and a massive antique two-man crosscut saw that was hard to miss. There were shelves full of books on forests, logging, and the lumber industry. Heaven for a wood enthusiast like me.
Library and meeting room at NHLA headquarters, with the antique crosscut saw mounted on paneled wall.
Before I left, he gave me a field guide to trees, something I’ve wanted for years. It is easily one of the best things I’ve received all year. I also met Brennah Hutchison, who gave me a copy of the latest issue of Hardwood & Design. I appreciated the warm welcome and the swag.
Finally, my own Pocket Guide to Trees.
I didn’t get to ask all my questions about the E.L. Bruce Company this time. I still want to learn which species perform best outdoors and how different woods weather over time. I also need to figure out what to prioritize when building outdoor sculptures. Dallin did tell me that hickory is stronger than oak, which I’m filing away for later.
For years, I have relied on salvaged lumber because it was available and visually interesting. Now I want to understand more about where the material comes from and how different species behave. I also want to explore how Memphis, and perhaps Orange Mound specifically, fit into the broader hardwood industry.
This visit was the perfect start to that education. I plan to go back. Probably more than once.
Working With What I Have
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the materials I keep around my workspace and why I keep returning to them.
Naturally, wood remains my primary material. A lot of it comes from scrap pieces I’ve found or that have been given to me. When I had my studio at Marshall Arts, a friend dropped off leftover wood from the Kinfolk restaurant in Harbor Town, and I’m actually still working through those pieces right now.
I’m also pulling from the environment around me: dried bamboo reeds that fall from along my backyard fence, cardboard tubes from paper towels, and even the empty rolls from masking tape. I also have these concrete pieces I made back during the pandemic. For a long time, they just sat there. Sometimes you have to let things rest for a few years until you finally have that lightbulb moment, and then it’s time to find a way to merge them with the wood.
My process usually starts with a backing piece or substrate. I love anything modular, so that substrate acts as my grid. I just imagine how to align everything vertically and horizontally, placing objects along those invisible, imaginary lines until the arrangement looks right. Because I’m not using much color right now, the focus is entirely on form, material, and how things sit in proximity to one another. (I do have some copper wire and steel pipes sitting prominently in my work area, just floating around in the back of my mind until an idea for them solidifies).
One thing I am pushing myself to think more about is how to give more meaning to these wall reliefs. I'm exploring how I can use relics, artifacts, or elements of my family history to imbue more personal significance into each piece.
Mama at the Dixon This October
Star Struck by artist NJ Woods
My beautiful and insanely talented mother, NJ Woods, will be included in the Mallory/Wurtzburger: 80 Exhibitions, 18 Years at Dixon Gallery and Gardens this fall.
The exhibition celebrates the Dixon’s Mallory/Wurtzburger Galleries series and the Memphis-area artists who have shown work there over the past 18 years. It opens October 4, 2026 and runs through January 4, 2027.
I’ll update this post with the full artist list, websites, and social media links as Dixon shares more details.
I am so proud and so excited for them all.
Art. Kicks. x Cocktails II
Chicago by Khara Woods, Mixed Media, 2026
Got an invitation from Jamond Bullock of Alivepaint to show a piece or two in Art. Kicks. x Cocktails II at Artifacts Gallery in Whitehaven. The exhibition challenged me to work with the theme of fly kicks, something outside my norm. I made Chicago, a 20 × 28-inch wood assemblage using wood stain, spray paint, electrical tape, and salvaged plywood. You can see the wood’s earlier condition in the photos above.
This piece included a few firsts. I used a router to round the edges, added texture with a Dremel 191 bit, and built my own French cleat. Of course, I installed the cleat backward and returned to the gallery the day before the opening to correct it, with help from fellow artist Eric Echols. A personal win, with one practical lesson learned.
Thank you, Jamond, for sharing your space and giving artists 100 percent of each sale. Thank you to everyone who came out, even though it rained cats and dogs, and to my sister-friend Dina of Soren Studio for joining me. I was glad to hear that several works sold. How awesome! Artifacts Gallery is located at 980 E. Brooks Road in Memphis. The gallery will be open Friday, July 17, from 3 to 8 p.m. for anyone who would like to see the exhibition. Links to everyone’s pages, mentioned in this post, are below.
Jamond Bullock / Alivepaint
Gallery / Artifacts Gallery
Eric Echols / Soulife Photography
Dina / Soren Studio
Material Memory
A wood, concrete assemblage yet to be named.
I started this piece last year, then let it sit for a while. It stayed in the studio and then in storage, unfinished, waiting for me to understand what it needed. Recently, I returned to it with fresh eyes and was able to bring the composition to a place that feels resolved.
The piece brings together wood, textured plywood, and small areas of wood glue and concrete used to fill voids. I enjoy working this way because the materials carry their own history and resistance. Some pieces are clean and geometric. Others are rough, chipped, or irregular. The final composition sits somewhere between a collage, a wall relief, and a small architectural model.
Some works need time. Not every unfinished object is abandoned. Some are just waiting for the right moment to become clear.
Low-Pressure Assemblage
Built from scraps, offcuts, fasteners. It all adds up.
This piece started as a brain dump project: a way to use scrap wood, try a few tools, and make something without the pressure of a proposal, deadline, or final outcome. I have been adding offcuts, plywood, thin strips, rounded forms, and small painted fragments as I go, paying attention to how the pieces stack, overlap, and interrupt each other.
Right now, the work is mostly about learning by doing. I have been practicing with a brad nailer and testing different fasteners. I am also thinking about adding veneer and making a French cleat for the back so the piece can hang cleanly on the wall.
It is low-profile and strictly for me, but it still connects to my larger interests in geometry, architecture, material, and how things hold together. That is probably the best part. Making a project without pressure, but not without purpose.
Life's a Beech
I found this log and brought it into the garage as the starting point for a new sculpture experiment. It’s about 8.5 inches in diameter and 26.5 inches tall, with a solid presence that made it feel worth saving. A friend suggested it may be Beech, and the smooth gray bark makes that possible, though I still need to confirm it. Maybe I need to find some leaves and determine the species that way?
I’ve started chipping away at the bark with chisels, slowly revealing the wood underneath. I don’t plan to remove all of it. I like the contrast between the rough outer surface and the exposed wood, especially around the knots.
For now, I’m letting the material guide the piece. I’ll keep testing what to remove, what to leave, and how this found log can become a sculpture.
Spinning the Block on Chalk
I used a chalk line again for the first time in a while. Years ago, I used chalk lines often when laying out murals, and it felt good to return to that process on a smaller scale. It is a simple tool, but there is something satisfying about measuring, pulling the string tight, snapping the line, and suddenly having a structure to respond to.
This new piece starts with a 1-inch-thick wood panel made from plywood and MDF. I am using the chalk line to set the grid before painting a sequence of color bands that will move across the surface and create a pulsing effect. The grid gives the work order, but not rigidity. Once the lines are in place, I can begin making decisions about color, rhythm, spacing, and movement.
I am thinking about this piece as both a painting and an object. Because the panel has a thick edge, the side cannot be treated like an afterthought. I am considering ways to finish it cleanly, possibly with hardwood edge banding or another treatment that helps the whole piece feel more resolved.
Art of Caring 2026
A few photos from last night’s Art of Caring fundraiser at the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms. Hosted by Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation, the event benefits the Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief and brings together local and regional artists in support of free grief counseling services for families and children across the Mid-South. I was honored to have my piece, Kepler’s Supernova, included in the auction, and I’m especially glad it sold in support of such a meaningful cause.
Sealing the Edge
Here’s a new painting in progress, Aixs X: 18 × 24 inches, spray paint on canvas. Right now, it’s somewhere between an underpainting and a blueprint.
Lately I’ve been committing to a taping method I’ve known about for years, but never fully adopted. The idea is simple: seal the tape edge first, then paint the new color. It cuts down on bleed and makes it easier to get the lines clean, sharp, and precise. Very obvious. Very useful. Occasionally, I need years to accept a good idea.
It’s worked for me before, and I think it’s going to help with where I want these paintings to go. More control. Better edges. Less fixing later. Which is ideal, because I would prefer to spend my time making the painting, not cleaning up after it.
We’ll see if the finished version gets as crisp as the sketch. That’s the goal anyway!
Ok Icon, Number Three
Another “K” for the possible monogram pile. This one is without the “O” and feels a little sharper and more structural than the last two. Part sail, part wedge, part cropped architectural detail.
Painting Between Places
Corridor is a 20 × 20 inch work in progress, spray paint and acrylic on a gallery-wrapped canvas. It’s built from taped bands, shifted angles, and a centered passage that keeps changing as the colors settle into place. I’m still cleaning up a few edges, while starting a second piece alongside it (18 × 24 inches). Right now, I’m painting wherever I can. Inside the house. Outside the house. Around the house. Not over the house. Not yet. Until I land in another studio. This has me thinking a lot about thresholds: moving through spaces, making do, and staying committed to the work even when the setting is temporary.
OK Icon, Another One
I’ve been playing with another “K” for my ongoing little monogram series. This version is… arrow-ish. Not a sleek, I-belong-on-a-freeway-sign, arrow. It’s a bit awkward looking, but it’s an arrow. I like that it feels directional.
“Forward” arrow sculpture built during my 2021 fellowship with UrbanArt Commission and the University of Memphis.
Playlist
Soundtrack to my latest exhibition.
Moody jazz, deep funk, poetic soul.
"Night Lights" Gerry Mulligan Sextet
"Memory of Our Love" Donny Hathaway
"Nature Boy" John Coltrane
"Thembi" Pharoah Sanders
"Movement 1" Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra
"Woodward Avenue" Yusef Lateef
"Ene Alantchie Alnorem" Mulatu Astatke
"Black Narcissus" Flora Purim
"Trouble" Amel Larrieux
"Manteca" Quincy Jones
"Night Moods" Chaka Khan
"Seven Minutes Of Funk" The Whole Darn Family
"Too High" Stevie Wonder
"A Min We Vo Nou We" Les Sympathics de Porto Novo
"If You Want Me, Say It" Love Unlimited
"Bump Lam Plearn" The Petch Phin Thong Band
"If I Ever Lose This Heaven" Quincy Jones
"Mercy" Lakecia Benjamin, Dianne Reeves
"I Really Don't Care" Bilal
"Coney Island Baby" Lou Reed
"Pieces of a Man" Gil Scott-Heron
"Kingston" Faye Webster
"Sack Full of Dreams (Live)" Donny Hathaway
A Friday in Augusta
This past Friday I gave an artist talk at Westobou Gallery in Augusta, GA, and honestly—it was a great time. The space is gorgeous (hello, tin ceiling and dreamy lighting), and I got to chat about my work, which is always slightly nerve-wracking but ultimately rewarding. I shared a bit about my current project for the Brooks Museum and how cast acrylic has been a beautiful but bossy new material in my practice. There was beer from Savannah River Brewery (shoutout to their IPA for calming my nerves), DJs spinning disco from Eccentric Disco (unexpected and so good), and some really thoughtful questions from folks in the crowd.
It rained on my drive back to Atlanta, with lightning slicing across the sky, but my favorite podcast kept me company. Now I’m back in Memphis, caffeinated and back to work—specifically: fixing those stubborn acrylic toppers. Onward!
Brooks Summer Art Garden: A Flash of Sun
Here’s a snapshot of how the plaza at the Brooks Museum is looking now that my installation, A Flash of Sun, is nearly complete. I’ll be sharing more photos soon, including behind-the-scenes moments from preparing the vinyl mural graphics and building the two sculptures now standing where Wheeler Williams’ Spring and Summer marble statues once stood.
Nashville Scene Write-Up
“Crawl Space: Playful Displays Top Fall’s First First Saturday: A multimedia exhibition at Tinney and a movie-themed”
By: Joe Nolan
Khara Woods’ painting “Champagne Supernova” is perfectly titled for this pop-culture moment, when all things vintage Oasis have been made new again with the announcement of the band’s reunion tour. The work is hanging at Red 225 in The Packing Plant through November. It’s part of Woods’ exhibition of geometric abstract paintings Square Biz, which finds the Memphis-based artist offering multiple interpretations and numerous iterations of squares, triangles and rectangles to create a surprisingly varied selection of multimedia works. She produces op-art effects, restrained palettes and clean, hard-edged surfaces that speak to graphic design aesthetics. Woods is a professional graphic designer, but these works are admirably painterly due to her embracing of street-art materials like wood and spray paint. In another life, Woods’ work might have looked like the kind of hip-hop- and graffiti-inspired paintings we see from a generation of emerging artists who discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat and never looked back. Refreshingly, she goes in a completely different direction, creating formalist abstracts elevated by modernist constraint. Woods paints on wooden panels, and the whole display feels a little bit like a set of children’s wooden play blocks, brightly painted in contrasting colors and repetitive patterns. The work conveys a sense of serious fun — contemporary nonrepresentational painting, but unpretentious and accessible. Some of Woods’ most striking pieces — like “Champagne Supernova” — are painted on panels cut into shapes. It’s a natural choice to make in a show about shapes, and it brings a lot of variety to a display that might have otherwise looked too … square. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Saturday at Red 225, 507 Hagan St.
“Champagne Supernova” featured above.
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