Episode #80
Road To Your Name - Season 8, Episode 10: A conversation with visual artist, Shayde Sandy
THE ROAD TO YOUR NAME / Yoha:te ne kahsen:na Episode 10 — Shayde Sandy: Portraiture, and the Metrolinx Bus Wrap This episode was recorded in November 2025 EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode of The Road to Your Name, host Lisa VanEvery sits down with Shayde Sandy, a Haudenosaunee multidisciplinary artist from Six Nations of the Grand River who specializes in oil portraits. Shayde shares her journey from painting at her grandmother's kitchen table to earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at Queen's University, and how she found her signature medium and subject: oil portraits centering on her family and community. The conversation traces her creative evolution from acrylics to oils, her thesis portrait of her grandfather, and the moment her work — a piece from her Intergenerational Love series featuring her grandfather, brother, and cousin — was selected to wrap a Metrolinx GO bus for National Indigenous History Month. Shayde and Lisa also talk about the artists who've shaped her practice, the realities of building an art business as a young Indigenous artist, and what community encouragement means to her along the way. WHAT WE TALK ABOUT - Growing up surrounded by art — Shayde's grandmother's early encouragement and her father's work as a soapstone carver - The path from Brantford Collegiate Institute to Queen's University's Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) program - Learning printmaking techniques (silkscreen, intaglio, lithography) and why oil painting became her medium of choice - Her process: photo references, projector sketches, blocking in color, and layering detail - Painting as therapy, and working through long stretches of solitary studio time - The thesis portrait of her grandfather that became part of her ongoing Intergenerational Love series - Designing the Metrolinx GO bus wrap — the first Indigenous-designed bus wrap for National Indigenous History Month - Public exhibitions at Casa Loma, the Runway of Resilience, and an upcoming group exhibition, Spirit of the Lake, at Crawford Lake - Artistic influences: Kent Monkman, Kehinde Wiley, and subway-portrait artist Devon Rodriguez - Building an online presence and using social media to document her process and reach an audience - The business side of being a working artist — commissions, grants, merchandise, and the path toward a website - Advice for young Indigenous artists starting out, and the role of community encouragement GUEST BIO Shayde Sandy is a contemporary Haudenosaunee artist from Six Nations of the Grand River, specializing in oil portraiture. She graduated from Queen's University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), majoring in Visual Art and minoring in Film. Her grandmother, Lois Porter, was her first art teacher, and she grew up surrounded by artistic relatives, including her father, noted soapstone carver Ryan Sandy. Shayde's art is largely about her life and experience on the reserve, a focus that developed while she was studying at Queen's. Her ongoing series, Intergenerational Love, highlights the love within her community, and features members of her own family. In 2025, Metrolinx selected Shayde to design the first Indigenous GO bus wrap as part of its National Indigenous History Month celebrations; the wrap is based on a 2022 painting from that series and will remain in circulation across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area for one year. Shayde's work has been exhibited at venues including Martin Luther University College, Queen's University, FirstOntario Arts Centre, Woodland Cultural Centre, Hamilton Artists Inc., Lynnwood Arts, Casa Loma, the Canadian National Exhibition, the Government of Ontario Art Collection, and Crawford Lake. She has also been featured in Queen's Women in Leadership Magazine, in APTN's social media coverage of Indigenous History Month, and in Seeing Red Media's "Reflecting Authentic Indigenous Representation" campaign. Her work appears in the Yellowhead Institute's report Twenty-Five Years of Gladue, and she illustrated the cover for the book Dream Visitors by Barbara Miller. You can find Shayde's work on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok under Shayde Sandy Art Website: www.shaydesandyart.ca RESOURCES MENTIONED - Aboriginal Legal Services — www.aboriginallegal.ca - Road to Your Name program (Aboriginal Legal Services) - Shayde Sandy Art — Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - Metrolinx GO bus wrap (National Indigenous History Month) - Intergenerational Love (Shayde Sandy's ongoing portrait series) - Spirit of the Lake — upcoming group exhibition at Crawford Lake - Casa Loma, Toronto — Runway of Resilience event - Kent Monkman — artist referenced as an influence - Kehinde Wiley — artist referenced as an influence - Devon Rodriguez — subway/street portrait artist referenced as an influence - Edward Curtis - photographer discussed for "stoic Indian" portraiture style - Kyle Joedicke — muralist, Shayde's cousin - Ryan Sandy — soapstone carver, Shayde's father --- Produced by Aboriginal Legal Services with technical assistance from True Seed Media. Hosted by Lisa VanEvery (Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan).
