where the sun shines
where the sun shines is an immersive dream world created by Stephanie J. Woods. The artist transports the viewer between nowhere and everywhere, like a liminal space enveloping the senses. In this world, the sun always shines, the walls whistle, and Venus and Serena Williams play a never-ending tennis match in the sky. Inspired by the yellow walls of her childhood bedroom and the message Woods wrote on her bedroom door, where the sun shines contains photographs, sculptures, textile works, and an immersive floor and video installation.
Accompanying the works on display is a sound collage by sample-based visual artist Johannes Barfield and a ceramic installation made in collaboration with ceramicist Chantel Bollinger.
This exhibition features a unique floor installation. Please take off your shoes, watch your step, and enjoy.
- Organized by the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture
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Solo-Exhibition: where the sun shines
Foam floor installation designed to resemble a tennis court, five photography works, two textile works, ceramic installation, video, and sound installation.
Solo-Exhibition: where the sun shines
Foam floor installation designed to resemble a tennis court, five photography works, two textile works, ceramic installation, video, and sound installation.
Shake EM, I, II, and III, 2022, 24in x 36in x 2in (each)
Photographs, afro hair, beads, yarn, barrettes, and hand-dyed cotton fabric.
Editions of 2
-Shake EM III, Mint Museum Permanent Collection
Shake EM II, (detail)
Photographs, afro hair, beads, yarn, barrettes, and hand-dyed cotton fabric.
Editions of 2
Solo-Exhibition: where the sun shines
Foam floor installation designed to resemble a tennis court, five photography works, two textile works, ceramic installation, video, and sound installation.
she deserves to shine, 2023, 48in x 120in x 4in
18 porcelain heads, synthetic hair weave, hair beads, and hair jewelry.
A collaboration between Stephanie J. Woods and Chantel Bollinger
-Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture Permanent Collection
she deserves to shine, (detail) 48in x 120in x 4in
18 porcelain heads, synthetic hair weave, hair beads, and hair jewelry.
A collaboration between Stephanie J. Woods and Chantel Bollinger
she deserves to shine, (detail)
she deserves to shine, is a ceramic installation created in collaboration with ceramicist Chantel Bollinger. The piece features 18, like the age 18, ceramic heads of a baby girl, each smiling with closed eyes, adorned with two puff balls embellished with braided synthetic hair and beads cascading from them. Arranged on the wall in a smiling formation, the installation engages in a dialogue about the adultification of young Black girls. This term refers to the phenomenon wherein Black children are perceived as older than their actual age, often due to systemic racism, which can impose social, emotional, and physical adult responsibilities on them prematurely.
tennis ball yellow, 2023, 96in x 204in
Children’s drawing and video installation.
tennis ball yellow
Videography by: Stephanie J. Woods
Sound by: Johannes Barfield
During much of her early career, one of the distinctive features of Venus Williams' on-court attire was the presence of beads in her hair. However, during the 1999 Australian Open, some of these beads came loose as she leaped to serve, resulting in a point penalty for causing a “disturbance.”
In response to this setback, Venus Williams famously said, "Tie my beads a little bit tighter and move on."
In “Tennis Ball Yellow,” we see white hair beads and a tennis ball fall slowly in and out of the frame as we hear Venus and Serena Williams playing a never-ending tennis match in the sky.
Love Dad
2023
88in x 54in x 2in
Hand-dyed fabric, braided synthetic hair, beads, hair jewelry, and magnetic letters.
Love Dad, (detail)
The central piece in where the sun shines was an immersive floor installation constructed from interlocking foam tiles resembling a tennis court and a children's playroom. To activate the floor installation, I created a week-long performance art camp called Camp Shine. The camp included Black girls ages 12-15 who hung out with me from 9 am to 3 pm daily for a week, culminating in an experimental documentary and video art piece.