Stephanie J. Woods is a multimedia artist working primarily in the fields of photography, fiber, video, and sculpture. Born in Seneca, South Carolina, and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, Woods cultivates an artistic practice exploring Black American culture and the American South. Her research examines involuntary cultural assimilation, the politicization of afro-hair, and domestic spaces as liberatory spaces that create portals to alternate realities.
In 2021, Woods was selected to attend the artist residency Black Rock Senegal, located in Dakar, Senegal, and in 2021, Woods was also awarded the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art by the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina. Woods is also the recipient of several other awards, residencies, and fellowships, including the 2022 Harpo Prize, the Fine Arts Work Center fellowship, ACRE Residency, the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists Residency, and Penland School of Craft. Her work is featured in permanent collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and the Gibbes Museum of Art, among others. Additionally, she has been featured in BOMB Magazine, Art Papers, Lenscratch, Burnaway, and the Boston Art Review.