About
Photo by Shira Marie
Biography
Khara Woods is a multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer based in Memphis, Tennessee. Her practice spans abstract geometric painting, wood assemblage, sculpture, and public art. Using line, repetition, and modular form, she examines architecture, labor, family history, and the built environment.
Woods’s relationship to wood deepened after ancestry research revealed that her maternal grandfather worked as a lumberer at E.L. Bruce Company and that earlier generations of her family were carpenters and woodworkers. She completed her first mural 2015 and has since created public art projects for civic and community organizations throughout Memphis. Her work includes Basin Portraits, a data-visualization mural commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia in 2019.
Her exhibitions include presentations at the Hilliard Art Museum, Christian Brothers University, Crosstown Arts, Sheet Cake Gallery, Red 225 Gallery, and Westobou, where she presented the solo exhibition Euclidean City in 2025. In fall 2025, Woods returned to Crosstown Arts to complete her first artist residency.
Statement
My artwork is motivated by my love for architecture and deeply rooted in preserving and continuing a cherished family tradition of making. Within my studio practice, I create abstract geometric paintings, small sculpture studies and experiment with digital woodworking methods. I often use devices like alternating lines and repetition to express rhythm and movement. Grids buttress much of what I create. Grids give my work a sense of order and modularity. I use grids across the disciplines I practice. I enjoy exploiting contrasts in my work: neutral and colorful, off and on, symmetry and asymmetry, animated and subdued. I am looking for ways to find a deeper connection to my past to honor the legacy of craftspeople in my family and abstract the many influences of the built environment.
CV
EDUCATION
2005 Westwood College, Anaheim, CA Associate of Science, Graphic Design and Multimedia
2003 University of Memphis, Memphis, TN Bachelor of Arts, Journalism
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO & TWO PERSON
2025
Euclidean City, Westobou, Augusta, GA
2024
It’s a Fine Line, Sheet Cake Gallery, Memphis, TN (Two Person)
2023 Edgewise: Exploring Pattern and Rhythm with Line, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, TN
2021 Axis, Hilliard Museum, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA
2020 Inside-Out, Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN
2019 Line and Fill, Wonder Cowork Create, Memphis, TN
GROUP
2024 BHM Visual Arts Exhibit, FedExForum, Memphis, TN
2022 Fabrica, Memphis, TN
2021 Group exhibition, Memorandum, 2021 Projects, Memphis, TN
2019 Group exhibition, 2019 UAC Artist Showcase, Urban Art Commission, Memphis, TN
PRESS
ONLINE
Ozmo, Zak: “Crosstown Arts spring 2023 exhibitions: An eclectic mix”, The Daily Memphian, May 20, 2023
Ellis, Susan: “Making a Statement: Murphy Maude Interiors launches art inspired collection”, Memphis Business Journal, May 16, 2022
Baker, Julia: “Mural to be demolished along with old MATA building”, The Daily Memphian, October 22, 2021, https://dailymemphian.com/article/24821/uptown-memphis-mata-mural-demolished
Morales, Andrea and Woods, Khara. Interview by Julian Kreimer. “Memorandum”, March 1, 2021, https://2021projects.com/media
“Basin Portraits”, Cell Press, One Earth, Visual Earth, Volume 3, Issue 3, September 18, 2020, https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30430-9
Coleman, Jim: “Litter, Landfills, and Illegal Dumping: New murals tell the story in Uptown and Frayser”, High Ground News, December 04, 2019, https://www.highgroundnews.com/features/LitterMurals.aspx
Bradley, Cole: “Ugly ducklings: Libraries Inside/Out ups the curb appeal at Randolph and Crenshaw libraries”, High Ground News, September 12, 2018, https://www.highgroundnews.com/features/librariesinsideout.aspx
RADIO
Trenholm, Emily: “On the Ground Podcast: How public art is engaging Memphians around sustainability”, The OAM Network, Memphis, TN, February 26, 2019
TV
Conley, Marybeth and Coleman, Alex, WREG Live at 9, “Memphis Designer and Artist Team Up to Bring Locally-Inspired Wallpaper into Your Home”, WREG, May 16, 2022
PUBLIC ART
2022 Sculpture (6’x3.3’x2’), University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
2021 Sculpture (3.5’x5’x2.5”), Memphis International Airport, Memphis, TN
2019 Exterior Mural (30’x20’), Memphis Area Transit Authority, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Memphis, TN
2019 Exterior Murals (7’x6’, 7’x5’), Maggie H. Isabel Street, Downtown Memphis Commission, Memphis, TN
2018 Exterior Murals, (17’x80’, 12’x40’), Cornelia Crenshaw Library, Memphis Public Libraries, Memphis, TN
AWARDS, GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS
2021 New Public Sculptors Fellowship, Urban Art Commission, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
2019 Event Grant Program, Memphis Medical District Collaborative, Memphis, TN
2017 ArtUp Fellowship, ArtUp, Memphis, TN
2016 Community Grant, Memphis City Beautiful, Memphis, TN
2013 MEMShop Incubator/Accelerator Grant, MEMShop, Memphis, TN
EXPERIENCE, PRESENTATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS
2024 National Planning Conference 2024, Streetscapes as Canvas: Memphis' Artistic Mobility Playbook, Minneapolis, MN
2024 Visiting Art Critic For Critique at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
2024 Guest Lecturer at Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN
2024 APA (American Planning Association) Membership TN Chapter
2024 Hard Edge Workshop, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN
2024 ARTSmemphis Appointed Artist Advisory Committee Member, Memphis, TN