Years of exposure to the day-to-day cultural, social, political, and economic realities of life in Zaire, Uganda, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, and Guyana led Ms. Sands to study designs and symbols on textiles as a visual portrayal of the way indigenous African people express themselves.  Thus, she calls textiles the “indigenous newspaper” – a visual record and organic methodology that preserves traditional art forms.

Ms. Sands’ art career includes the creation of new ways to apply dye and color, as well as ways to utilize and experiment with how to blend together contemporary and original African artistic methods and materials to get unique results.  She has also conducted training, and launched apprenticeships and income generating activities in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, and Guyana.  She is committed to sustaining the use of indigenous artistic applications for social development, income generation, skills-transfer, and art education.