Digital artist Qualeasha Wood delves into the realm of digital glitches to narrate tales of the Black female experience.
News Article: "Malware" by Qualeasha Wood: A Digital Exploration of Technology's Influence
Philadelphia-based artist Qualeasha Wood's latest exhibition, "Malware", is now on display at London's Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. This is Wood's second solo show, and it showcases her digital works that delve into themes around technology and contemporary digital culture.
Wood's artworks in the exhibition, which will be on show until 26 April at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Heddon Street, London W1, embody the physical glitch and reveal web platforms' strings of code. Her works celebrate an aesthetic beyond the parameters of traditional beauty, challenging the viewer's perception and interaction with digital media.
The exhibition's title and theme suggest that Wood employs digital manipulation—possibly including data bending, pixel sorting, or deliberate file corruptions—to produce glitch effects. These disruptions underscore the themes of the exhibition, creating a conceptual exploration of technology's influence on the visual and sensory experience.
Wood's preoccupation with 'glitches' stems from her studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her live performance during the opening, described as "state of bed rotting", engages with digital culture and attention economically and critically, resonating conceptually with the glitch aesthetics presented in her works.
Wood's artworks in the exhibition include tapestries, tuftings, and videos. Weaving these works is the least labor-intensive component of the creation process, as Wood creates them on a computerized loom. The most time-consuming part of her creation process is choosing which screenshots to recreate from her phone's estimated 30,000-40,000.
Wood's artworks are inspired by a tapestry she received as a gift, depicting her family as babies. Her tapestries serve as a double-edged sword, as she aims to control her body's perception while also acknowledging the voyeuristic gaze. Wood inserts herself into her images to consider the disruption caused by 'glitches'.
Wood's early work, Cult Following, was heavily influenced by religion and social media. Her artworks embody these influences, often revealing the interconnectedness and interruptions found in both digital and physical spaces.
Wood's experience of being doxed twice has also influenced her perspective on the digital space. She engages in around 14 hours of screen time a day, and her artworks serve as a reflection of her digital existence and the effects of technology on her perception and attention.
The article appears in the May 2025 issue of the website, available in print on newsstands from 3 April, on the website app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. For those in London, "Malware" is a must-see exhibition that challenges the viewer's perception of technology and digital media, offering a unique and thought-provoking experience.
Technology is a significant theme in Qualeasha Wood's digital works, as seen in her exhibition "Malware" at the Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London. Wood's artworks exhibit glitch effects, possibly as a result of digital manipulation techniques such as data bending, pixel sorting, or deliberate file corruptions, to critique and explore the impact of technology on visual and sensory experiences.
