Thembi Soddell

Thembi Soddell (b.1980) is an Australian sound artist, electroacoustic composer and practice-led researcher with an interest in psychology, perception, extreme emotion and the subjectivity of experience. She works primarily with the sampler, generating sounds from field recordings, instrument textures, played found objects and synthesis to form surreal and ambiguous realisations of place and experience. These volatile, filmic sound worlds exploit the dynamic extremes, toying with the listeners’ sense of expectation and disquiet.

Thembi has a BA in Media Arts (2002) and first class honours in sound art (2005) from RMIT University’s School of Art, where she is now a PhD candidate. Her research looks at ways to embody firsthand experiences of mental illness and psychological distress within electroacoustic composition and sound art installation practice. She has released two solo CDs and two in collaboration with cellist Anthea Caddy, with whom she has twice toured Europe; exhibited and performed across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US; guest curated for the National Gallery of Victoria; assisted in running Australian experimental music label cajid media; and worked as sound designer and dramaturge for choreographer, Tim Darbyshire.