top of page
I learned photography from my grandfather during our walks together – cameras in hand - around his small-town Louisiana farm. My favorite subjects were the things that were interesting from the eye level of a child: plants, flowers, and trees. Subjects like the live oak tree outside of his schoolhouse that he used to climb as a boy and the bearded irises that were planted by his grandmother and bloomed every spring.

For me, the act of making photographs became entwined with studying botanicals that were rich with my own personal history. My earlier images were traditional black and white botanical works using old school, large format 4x5 film cameras and hand-printed gelatin silver prints. These photographs showed the life cycle of plants at a time when I was contemplating my own mortality after my daughter was born and my father died in the same year. 

Recently, I have moved into color work and have begun to shift from personal subjects to those with more universal and historical resonance and significance.

CV

b. 1965, Montgomery, Alabama 
Currently living in Des Moines Iowa

EDUCATION​

​1992     Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas - Master of Art, Art History  
1987     Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas - Bachelor of Art, Photojournalism

 

​SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022     Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa 

2020     Central College, Pella, Iowa 

2019     The Poison Garden - Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa

2019     Omnia Vanitas - Muscatine Art Museum, Muscatine, Iowa 

2019     Omnia Vanitas - Olson-Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, Iowa

2019     Fatal Flora - Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa 

2018     Fatal Flora – Des Moines Botanical Center, Des Moines, Iowa

2018     Fatal Flora - Memorial Union Gallery, ISU, Ames, Iowa

2017     Fatal Flora - Morrissey Gallery, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa

2016     Fatal Flora - Viaduct Gallery, Des Moines, Iowa

2003     Molly Wood Nature Morte - Southern Methodist University, Fondren Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2002     Molly Wood Photographs - Muscatine Art Museum, Muscatine, Iowa

 


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

2021     Bloom, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, Kansas

             Annual Group Show, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, New York (juror Paula Tognarelli)

             Botanical, A. Smith Gallery, Johnston City, Texas, (juror Wendi Schneider)

             Annual Member's Show, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, Colorado, (juror, Aline Smithson)

2020     PhotoSpiva, Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO (juror - April Watson - Curator of

             Photography, Nelson-Atkins Museum

2019     Briar Cliff Review Exhibition, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa

2018     Photo Sensitive, Olson-Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, Iowa

2018     Iowa Women's Art Exhibit, Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa

2017     Annual Small Works Show, Olson-Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, Iowa

2017     Current Work, Kansas City Society of Contemporary Photography,

             Kansas City, Missouri (juror – Keith Davis – Senior Curator of Photography,

             Nelson-Atkins Museum)

2017    14th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport,

             Illinois (juror – Dan Addington, Addington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois)

2017     DUMA Biennial, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa

2017     Iowa Exhibited XXXII, Polk County Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, Iowa

              (merit award)

2016     National Fellowship Competition, Developed Work, Midwest Center for

              Photography, Wichita, Kansas

​2016     Le Garage Hermétique, Salisbury House, Des Moines, Iowa

2015     Lady's Work, Chapman House, Des Moines, Iowa

OTHER​

2019                    Project Grant - Iowa Arts Council

2018                    Iowa Arts Council Fellowship

2016                    Project Grant - Iowa Arts Council​

2016 to present   Board Member - Des Moines Art Center Print Club 

2015 to present   DMACC Adjunct Professor - History of Photography

2008 to present   Meredith Brand Licensing - Better Homes & Gardens

                            Photo Shoot Producer

COLLECTIONS

J.P. Morgan Chase

Sioux City Art Center

Bankers Trust

Farm Bureau

Principal Financial

Sewell Cadillac

Anchor 1
Molly Wood
bottom of page