Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Powerful textile works celebrate Black women.

by

There’s so much to love about the powerful textile portraits of Black women by Simone Elizabeth Saunders, on view at Contemporary Calgary until Jan. 30. They are joyful, audacious, hopeful and emboldened with beauty and confidence. Collectively, they form a strong and resilient sisterhood.

The exhibition, u.n.i.t.y., includes 13 recent hand-tufted portraits and a poem by Saunders, Ancestral Bodies. Phrases from the poem – like “the colliding of moons” or “be creation: become the cosmos” – reverberate visually through motifs of flowers and celestial bodies, even as viewers are asked to confront painful truths about racism, injustice and colonial violence. Through this vibrant imagery, Saunders channels her Jamaican and African roots, interweaving the personal and the political with uplifting narratives about Black kinship.

In one of the show’s many remarkable works, Lady Justice, a Black woman takes a knee, staring out at viewers and challenging us to think about the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others. She holds scales in one hand and a sword in the other. At her foot is a bandana with the message: “I can’t breathe.” In the dark sky above, a constellation of stars spells out the word ‘justice.’

While Saunders roots her work in political activism, she is also inspired by Art Nouveau. Four Queens, composed of figures representing spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds, is a riff on Czech artist Alphonse Mucha’s 1900 poster series, Precious Stones, which features white women with flowing hair and garments amidst decorative botanical motifs. In Four Queens, Black women take similar poses, but gaze directly at viewers as embodiments of Black Power, Black Dreams, Black Magic and Black Love.

Saunders graduated only last year from the Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary, where she began experimenting with the medium after an instructor introduced her to the tufting gun. The hand-held machine allows Saunders to “paint” on rug warp using a mix of coloured wool, acrylic and velvet fibres and yarn. She draws onto the rug warp and then builds her imagery by adding patches of colour. Saunders demonstrates an impressive use of expert figurations that use tonal variation and lines, as well as intricate patterns and colour contrasts to create both surface tension and reciprocity.

While the first gallery displays her work on traditional white walls, the second is painted a warm ebony. A perfect backdrop for her lush portraits, the ebony walls also feel like a protective shelter or even an embrace.

Some works use beautifully stylized white lines to render black bodies that shimmer like a starry night. For example, Rise Up: Encompass the Galaxy, shows a woman wrapped in vibrant robes and entwined by a pink snake as she emerges from gorgeous blue waves. Rendered in celestial black, haloed in white and crowned by a spectacular sun, she emulates the goddess Venus.

Saunders celebrates Blackness in multiple ways with imagery that is dramatic, playful and life-affirming. Contrasts between blackness and vibrant colour are woven throughout the show. Figures are surrounded by auras, often in bright orange, that evoke the life force from within but also read as protective layers of light and energy. 

So much has been lost during the pandemic, but the slowdown has allowed more time to focus on diversity and how various people are viewed, treated and represented. These tactile works offer a powerful and celebratory vision. ■  

Simone Elizabeth Saunders: u.n.i.t.y. at Contemporary Calgary from Nov. 4, 2021, to Jan. 30, 2022.

Correction Nov. 26, 2021, 12:30 p.m. An earlier version of this article indicated that Saunders silkscreens her designs onto rug warp. In fact, she draws on the warp. The post has been updated.

PS: Worried you missed something? See previous Galleries West stories here or sign up for our free biweekly newsletter.

Contempoary Calgary 2020.png

Contemporary Calgary

701 11 Street SW, Calgary, Alberta

403-770-1350

please enable javascript to view

Visit Website

Tues-Sun 11 am - 6 pm, Thurs 11 am-  9 pm