Maraya Henderson is an artist from Richmond, Virginia, currently based in Chicago while pursuing her Master’s in Art Therapy and Counseling. She holds a BA in Strategic Communications with an emphasis in graphic design, but discovered her passion for the helping professions through her work in education. The integration of art and counseling has opened a space for her to explore alternative forms of expression and processing especially as a Black woman creating for and within the Black community. Her practice is heavily process-oriented and symbolic, with a particular focus on fiber and textile work. Through this tactile engagement, Maraya cultivates a deeper connection to personal and collective experiences, using the act of making as a method of reflection, healing, and storytelling. Her work honors the intimate, layered histories carried within the body and in community, allowing material, memory, and meaning to intertwine.
Taken, 2025, upholstery and hand embroidery
We feel, 2025, acrylic paint, 24x72 in
We feel cont., 2025, yarn
My work in this installation emerges from a personal encounter with the diversity gaps within art therapy education and training. As a Black woman navigating a field rooted in healing and creative expression, I was compelled to question how and for whom these learning environments were designed for.
With the use of spatial objects and fiber-based materials to create an embodied experience that is easy to navigate. Through different textile processes, my work often engages texture as both a metaphor and a method. Fibers represent care, reference labor but also interconnectedness. I use textures to convey experiences of friction, softness, containment, and rupture; both rough and delicate materials exist within this conversation.
My work in this installation functions as both a personal narrative and a collective inquiry. I want to call attention to the gap between intention and impact within the art therapy field and ask the viewers to consider what it means to create an evironment that is not just inclusive in theory but embodied in the structure and the practice.