From the archives: Transforming trauma with Theda Sandiford

Show Notes

Takeaways from this episode:

• Art as a vehicle for emotional release
  Theda’s practice began as a personal form of art therapy - a way to process grief, racial trauma, and microaggressions. Through repetitive, meditative making, she physically knots emotion into fibre, transforming pain into tangible, healing artworks.
• Everyday materials, extraordinary meaning
  From bottle caps and zip ties to shopping carts and hurricane debris, Theda’s materials carry histories of consumerism, violence, resilience and community. Her work reminds us that everything – even the discarded – can hold and honour human experience.
• Community-powered installations
  Projects like Free Your Mind invite public participation, asking people to write down microaggressions they’ve experienced. These responses become part of large-scale fibre installations, offering a collective space for awareness, empathy and repair.
• The power of personal narrative in public art
  By sharing her own experiences and encouraging others to do the same, Theda creates work that challenges assumptions, disrupts bias, and encourages deeper listening – all through the accessible, tactile language of fibre.
• Nature, ancestry and place as inspiration
  Now based in St Croix, Theda draws on the natural world and her Caribbean heritage to experiment with local fibres and dyes. Her studio practice honours ancestral techniques while cultivating new relationships with the land and its materials.

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Explore the artwork from this episode below

During the interview, we shared some images of Theda’s artwork. Since you’re listening to the podcast version, we’ve made some images available for you below.