about
“The thread is a line that leads to infinity, and textiles are the physical manifestation of that endless journey.”
Lenore Tawney
Photo © Paulo Lobo
biography
Born in Mozambique to a Portuguese family, Sandra is currently based in Luxembourg. She holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, where she also undertook training in theatre.
Following her graduation in 1997, she pursued a career in the performing arts before relocating to Luxembourg in 2005. Since 2018, her textile art practice has developed into a professional career, reflecting a sustained commitment to material exploration and artistic research.
"I create works using traditional textile techniques such as weaving, tapestry, embroidery, and crochet. By (re)using textile materials and discarded objects, I reflect on memory, gesture, and the passage of time.
Guided by the spoken word and an intuitive, tactile process, my practice explores questions of place, identity, and journey — both personal and collective.
My work often emerges from an intimate reflection on dualities, contrasts, and states of "being in-between". I tell fragmented stories where the things that separate and connect us, or protect and confine us, intersect. For me, a border is not a fixed line but a porous, shifting space — a site of passage and transformation.
By assembling fragments, materials, and repeated gestures, I seek to make these intermediate zones visible. These are the spaces where identities and stories are formed, and reinvented. Textile thus becomes a language to evoke the plural, sensitive, and evolving boundaries that shape our individual and collective experiences."
SR
Education
1992–1997 – Degree in Philosophy, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Artistic Training and Practice (Non-Formal / Independent)
1995–2005 – Theatre training through workshops, residencies, and professional practice. Freelance theatre performer (Portugal)
2001–2004 – Producer, performer and co-founding member of the non-profit organisation arexploratóriodasartes (air.exploratoryofarts), artistic association founded in Coimbra, dedicated to producing and promoting performing arts, visual arts, music, and literature.
2005–ongoing – Self-taught practice in textile art
Evolving from personal interest to professional focus since 2018. Independent work in weaving, tapestry techniques, embroidery, and textile-based installations.
Group Exhibitions
2026 – Filum 66 (3), Space H2O, Oberkorn, Luxembourg
2025 – De Mains de Maîtres "off-site" programme, Villa Vauban, Museum of Art of the City of Luxembourg
2025 – De Mains de Maîtres: Singular Nature, 5th edition, 19 Liberté, Luxembourg
2025 – Salon du CAL 2025, contemporary annual art fair organised by Cercle Artistique du Luxembourg, Tramsschapp, Limpertsberg, Luxembourg
2025 – Hidem Gems III, Kamellebuttek, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
2025 – Filum 66, Centre Barblé, Strassen, Luxembourg
2024 – Chasing Light: Still Lives, Subtile Gallery, Luxembourg
2024 – Pop-up art exhibition, Méckenheck Farm, Berchem, Luxembourg
2023 – De Mains de Maîtres: The Gesture and the Territory, 4th edition, 19 Liberté, Luxembourg
2023 – Squares, La Dama di Capestrano Cultural Centre, Abruzzo, Italy
2023 – XS Project, Gina Morandini Gallery, Maniago, Italy
Collections
2024 – Veräinssall, Roeser, Luxembourg – permanent collective exhibition
2024 – Museum of Embroidery and Textiles, Valtopina, Perugia, Italy
Publications / Press
Suboart Magazine - International Art Magazine for Emerging Artists, Issue 32, Nov. 2024 – “Shaping the World Through Textiles”, interview pp. 56–65 (https://suboartmagazine.com)
Women United Art Magazine, Issue VII, Spring 2024 – “In the Spotlight”, pp. 78–81 (https://www.womenunitedartmovement.com/magazine)
Memberships
since 2025 - AAPL, Association des Artistes Plasticiens du Luxembourg
since 2024 - ETN, European Textile Network
since 2023 - Filum 66, Luxembourgish contemporary textile artists’ collective