Offering to the Lost Ones


Offering to the Lost Ones
Theda Sandiford
42x10x5”
Recovered marine line, sea tumbled, woven and knotted with eyelash yarn, acrylic yarn , deconstructed line, glass beads, shells, chain and hand made bells.
2024

Offering to the Lost Ones is a sacred beacon of remembrance, crafted to honor the spirits lost during the transatlantic slave trade while reflecting on humanity’s ongoing disruption of the natural world. Using recovered marine line, sea-tumbled and woven with eyelash yarn, acrylic yarn, deconstructed line, glass beads, shells, chains, and handmade bells, this work becomes a poignant bridge between memory and materiality, life and loss.

The materials themselves—objects shaped by the violence of tropical storms and hurricanes—carry dual histories. They embody the enduring impact of environmental devastation and echo the turbulent seas that bore witness to unimaginable human suffering. Each knot, bead, and bell in this piece holds space for reflection, transforming debris into a solemn offering to the lost ones whose names and stories dissolved into the depths of the Atlantic.

This work evokes the fractured journey of the Middle Passage, where bodies cast into an ocean that became both a witness and a grave. The fragile interplay of synthetic and organic elements—chains and bells against shells and glass—mirrors the tension between bondage and liberation, death and resilience.

Offering to the Lost Ones calls us to remember the past while confronting the present. It reminds us that the sea, a vast expanse of life and mystery, carries both the weight of ancestral grief and the scars of modern neglect. In this offering, I seek not only to mourn but to inspire a dialogue about healing and reconciliation— between humanity and the natural world.

For Venus and Serena

This piece honors all the girls with beaded braids who grew up watching the Williams sisters, finding strength and pride in their grace, power, and unapologetic excellence—both on the court and in the court of public opinion. Venus and Serena embody Black excellence, breaking barriers and redefining what is possible. This artwork is a salute to their legacy and to the generations inspired by their resilience and brilliance.

Crafted from two vintage tennis rackets, African print fabric, paracord, loop yarn, bottle caps, ribbon hair beads, a watch face, acorns, and other ephemera, the work weaves together materials that symbolize both heritage and individuality. The beaded elements evoke the rhythmic sounds of braids on the move, echoing the energy and determination of every young girl daring to see herself in their story.

Register for Artist Talk Next Week

I am giving a virtual lecture about my Free Your Mind; Social Justice Art Project next week on March 28 at 7:00pm.

Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share a personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative.

Please join me, registration is Free… HERE

Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share a personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative.

Feel free to share your story HERE

Tenuous Threads

I’m pleased to share that one of my new Hair Rope pieces will be included in this show of contemporary work incorporating textiles, fibers, threads and mixed media.

The show description really resonated with me… All of life is connected through networks, systems, fibers, and webs. Communication (visual, verbal, electrical, chemical, and kinetic) enables an exchange of information amongst all life forms. Tenuous Threads alludes to the delicate lines that bring us together and sets us apart; that joins us yet repels us. 

The opening reception is Thursday January 26th, 5:30- 8:00pm. I hope to see you there.


Exhibition Dates: January 24th- February 11, 2023

Location:  Atlantic Gallery, 548 W 28th St #540, New York, NY 

Blue Ribbon Sunset In St. Croix, Aqua dyed cotton rope, acrylic yarn, chanelle, cotton printed fabric, jersey fabric and ribbon, 40 x 10 x 8 in, 2021