Ariel Wood

Ariel Wood serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Southwestern University, where they teach and maintain an active studio practice focused on sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking. Their academic background includes an MFA in Sculpture from The University of Texas at Austin (2022), a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence (2016), and a BFA in printmaking and drawing from The University of Wisconsin, Madison (2016).

Wood's artistic practice centers on plumbing and drainage systems as metaphors for interconnectedness, liminality, and queerness. They investigate how infrastructure shapes human experience, particularly examining public restrooms as charged spaces that demonstrate gender, intimacy, privacy, and hygiene. Working primarily with ceramic, metal, wood, silicone, and paper, Wood creates sculptures that evoke plumbing systems while exploring themes of containment, fluidity, and the political dimensions of everyday infrastructure. Their work often plays with the concept of 'passing'—how objects and people can appear functional yet remain deliberately fallible.

Wood's recent exhibitions demonstrate a consistent exploration of infrastructure as both physical reality and metaphor. Their work appears in venues across the United States including Houston, Dallas, Austin, and New York, with international presentations in Florence, Italy. The artist's installations frequently transform gallery spaces into environments that question our relationship to the built environment and the systems that shape our daily lives.

• Lomis Slaughter, Jr. Endowment Scholarship In Sculpture
• Continuing College Fellowship
• Alice C. Cole Fellowship Finalist
• Concept Animals' Community Favorite Sculptor Artist in Austin
• Watershed Ceramics' Summer Residency (2022)
• Sweet Pass Sculpture School Residency (2024)

As an educator and practicing artist, Wood maintains active engagement with the Austin art community as a member of MASS Gallery. Their curatorial projects, such as 'a crack in the leak,' demonstrate their commitment to fostering dialogue around permeability, protection, and the political dimensions of materiality. Wood's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications, including critical writing in Glasstire about their 'raze' exhibition at grayDUCK Gallery.

Wood's studio practice incorporates multiple residencies and collaborations, including Watershed Ceramics and Sweet Pass Sculpture School. Their work often involves site-specific installations that transform ordinary spaces into contemplative environments that encourage viewers to reconsider the infrastructure that shapes their daily lives.