SIMONE ELIZABETH SAUNDERS

Simone (she/her) is an award-winning, Canadian textile artist whose powerful tapestries have attracted the attention of galleries, media and prominent collectors from around the world. Using a punch needle and tufting machine, she carefully hand weaves each canvas with a strong focus on emulating Black womanhood, uplifting their joys, strength and resilience. Her colourful textiles highlight motifs and iconography from her Jamaican heritage and engage with socio-cultural factors reclaiming power from oppressive ideologies.

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With two BFA degrees, one in Performance from the University of Alberta and the other majoring in Fibre (with distinction) from Alberta University of the Arts, Saunders weaves her theatrical experiences with her passion for diverse art history. She explores the beauty and vulnerability of Black women in connection to her own perspective as a proud, mixed-race Jamaican-Canadian. She has earned countless awards and acknowledgments for her work, receiving one of particular personal importance in 2023 – a Calgary Black Chambers Achievement Award recognizing her work in highlighting and advancing Black and societal issues through the Arts.

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Saunders is actively creating new textiles from her studio in Moh’kinstsis  (Calgary, Canada) with her work being displayed internationally. Recent exhibitions include, Art Gallery of Alberta (AB), Illingworth Kerr Gallery (AB), Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, SCOPE and LOOP Miami, ExpoChicago, and at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, England. Other recent exhibitions include the Textile Museum of Canada (ON), Contemporary Calgary (AB), Minneapolis Art Institute (MN), the Mint Museum (NC), and ArtsWestchester (NY).