Author: Theda Sandiford

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Blackity Black Blanket Library Drape Invited to FIBER 2025

I’m honored to share that Blackity Black Blanket Library Drape has been invited to exhibit at FIBER 2025, a prestigious international contemporary fiber art exhibition. The show runs from May 10 – June 19, 2025, at Silvermine Galleries in New Canaan, Connecticut. If you’re in the area, I invite you to the Opening Reception on May 17.

This body of work holds deep meaning for me. It explores the often unspoken terrain of implicit bias and the exhaustion that can come from navigating unproductive conversations around “isms”—racism, sexism, classism, and more. These dialogues can often feel circular or emotionally draining, especially when participants aren’t fully self-aware or willing to acknowledge the biases they carry. And let’s be real—implicit bias is a universal experience. It’s not a moral failure. But how we respond to it—that’s the real work.

Each zip tie in this installation is a micro-marker, a fragment of memory and tension, a moment where something was said, done, or left unsaid. The 12,000–15,000 zip ties that make up each blanket aren’t just numbers. They are reminders of the daily weight of microaggressions—small, often invisible cuts that compound over time.

The piece is anchored by two 8-foot antique library ladders, their rungs obscured by cascading black zip tie blankets. These ladders symbolize ambition and ascension—but weighed down, they speak to the difficulty of rising when systemic bias clings to every step.

Blackity Black Blanket Library Drape asks: What are we carrying? And what do we ask others to carry, often without even noticing? This work doesn’t claim to have answers, but it insists on holding the question in view, and hopefully opens a door toward deeper awareness, mutual accountability, and healing.

If you’re in or around Connecticut this spring, come see the work in person. Stand beneath it. Feel the texture of the conversation it invites..

FIBER 2025
Exhibition Dates: May 10 – June 19, 2025
Opening Reception: May 17, 2025
Location: Silvermine Galleries, 1037 Silvermine Rd, New Canaan, CT 06840

Blackity Black Blanket, ladders and emotional baggage cart installation
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April: Finding Inspiration in Nature and Culture

This month, I’ve been drawing deeply from the land and its stories for inspiration. Spending time in the Provision Grounds and food forest, I’m reminded of how nature and culture are intertwined. Each plant, from the vibrant cassava leaves to the medicinal herbs, carries a history—an untold story of survival and resilience.

This connection to the land has been feeding into my creative work. I’ve been experimenting with textures and colors inspired by the landscapes around me. The greens of new growth, the earthy tones of the soil, and the rhythmic patterns of woven baskets are finding their way into my current projects.

April has also been a time for storytelling. I’ve been gathering notes for the Provision Grounds Book, speaking with local elders and historians who’ve generously shared their knowledge. Their stories remind me how important it is to preserve these legacies—not just in words but through the art I create.

By looking closely at what’s around me, I’m finding endless inspiration for new ideas and perspectives. Nature has a way of grounding us, showing us that creativity isn’t something we need to force; it’s already present if we slow down enough to see it.

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Krishna Reddy Viscosity Printing Demo

As I am setting up the new studio with a printmaking area, this video is providing food for thought for upcoming studio experiments.

Mark Johnson, former graduate student of Krishna Reddy’s and long-time collaborator, as he explains the viscosity printing process while printing from Reddy’s Clown Dissolving plate.

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March 27: Join Me During HGA’s Fiber-A-Thon

The HGA Fiber-A-Thon will be a day filled with inspiring stories, uplifting creativity, and an opportunity to make a difference. This event will be broadcast live on Zoom for 12 hours on Thursday, March 27th, starting at 12 noon Eastern Time, and promises to be an incredible showcase of talent, compassion, and community spirit.

I signed up for 2:10pm for a Studio Tour! After eight months of construction, I’ve finally moved into my new studio in St. Croix, USVI! I can’t wait to take you on a tour and share updates on the eco-artist retreat I’m building at Sky Garden STX.

Registration and more details HERE.

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The Language of Materials: Art as Witness and Dialogue

The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers.
 — James Baldwin

My art confronts the unseen, the unspoken, and the deeply felt. I transform everyday materials—often discarded, often overlooked—into intricate works that challenge perceptions, provoke introspection, and bear witness to personal and collective experiences. Through my practice, I engage in conversations about race, gender, identity, and trauma, embedding within my pieces the stories and struggles that are often concealed beneath the surface of social discourse.

Materiality is at the heart of my work. I use found objects, textiles, marine debris, rope, beads, zip ties, and unconventional fibers to weave narratives of resilience and protection. These materials hold memory, energy, and history—I am drawn to the weight of objects that have passed through many hands, the textures that whisper of labor, care, and survival. By repurposing and recontextualizing them, I give voice to experiences that might otherwise be ignored. James Baldwin once said that the purpose of art is to lay bare the questions concealed by the answers, and that is exactly what I strive to do. My I Am My Hair series challenges microaggressions and the politics of Black hair, exposing the ways in which society polices personal expression. My Lost and Found series, created from fragments of the past—discarded netting, frayed fabric, twisted cordage—becomes a meditation on what is carried, lost, and recovered over time.

Through participatory projects like Free Your Mind, I invite the audience to become part of the dialogue, using art as a tool for healing, reflection, and community engagement. I encourage people to share their personal encounters with bias and discrimination, creating spaces where concealed experiences are laid bare, fostering empathy and understanding.

In an era when dominant narratives often seek to erase or rewrite history, my art insists on remembrance, on presence, on truth. It is both shield and mirror—offering protection and clarity in a world that often seeks to obscure. My work does not provide easy answers, but rather compels us to sit with the questions, to acknowledge the weight of silence, and to recognize the power of being seen.

Tangled In Time – close up 2
Tangled In Time – close up 3