The Textile Museum of Canada (the Museum) will current Simone Elizabeth Saunders: u.n.i.t.y., an exhibition of works by Simone Elizabeth Saunders, evoking private historical past, Afro diaspora, and Black sisterhood via portraits created with daring, vibrant textiles. Saunders’ dramatic tufted works incorporate motifs from her Jamaican heritage and interact with sociocultural elements to reclaim energy from oppressive ideologies. Saunders’ background in theatre arts informs her follow as she integrates dramatism and story-telling inside her singular creations. Organized by Modern Calgary Senior Curator Ryan Doherty, the exhibition might be on view in Toronto from October 12, 2022, to January 29, 2023.
Borrowing iconography from her Jamaican heritage, artwork historical past, literature, music, and present occasions, Saunders depicts single feminine figures, every a montage of highly effective, inspirational Black our bodies that collectively floor as a powerful and resilient group. As a lot as these eloquent portraits connote Black pleasure and perseverance it’s when they’re offered collectively that they change into narratives of connection that, for Saunders, gives herself and others a potent sense of belonging.
“We’re thrilled to launch our fall season with such an uplifting exhibition that presents the facility, confidence and great thing about Black lives with an artistry that mesmerizes” mentioned Kirsten Kamper, Director and CEO of the Textile Museum of Canada. “Simone Elizabeth Saunders: u.n.i.t.y. builds on years of Museum exhibitions and partnerships celebrating textile strategies which can be being reinterpreted by a brand new era of artists, revealing and sharing tales of the individuals who proceed to form and innovate textile practices right this moment.”
The exhibition contains items from Saunders’ Ancestral Our bodies sequence (begun in 2021) honouring her ancestors, and her Shield Black Ladies sequence (2020-2021) that includes 4 Queens (2021) impressed by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha’s Artwork Nouveau work Treasured Stones (1900), which reveals iconic figures and gestures amidst ornamental botanical motifs. In 4 Queens, Black ladies take comparable poses, however gaze immediately at viewers as embodiments of Black Energy, Black Goals, Black Magic, and Black Love. Saunders emulates Mucha’s turn-of-the-last-century paintings in her personal fashion, championing Black womanhood and creating what she calls “Black Nouveau.”
“Saunders work manifests a compelling stress between the highly effective connotations of her imagery and color palette with the tender tactility of her supplies,” mentioned Doherty. “Hand tufting her works, threads of acrylic, wool, velvet, and extra, introduce a young dimension-a delicate, susceptible, and attractive side to dismantle the misperceptions of Black ladies. Moreover, the mingling of particular person threads of yarn introduced collectively right into a collective entire, echoes the interconnectedness of her topics.”
Whereas Saunders has solely lately embraced textile artwork, her great-grandfather in Jamaica was an prosperous tailor. She has additionally been influenced by a spread of artists together with Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Wangechi Mutu, and Renaissance tapestries. Amongst her influences, she credit Black figures throughout disciplines and generations who’ve excelled at their craft and sparked pleasure together with, Maya Angelou, Octavia Butler, H.E.R., Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Toni Morrison, Nina Simone, Kehinde Wiley, and Serena Williams amongst many others.
Concerning the Artist
Simone Elizabeth Saunders (she/her) was born in Calgary, Alberta the place she continues to stay and work. She acquired a BFA (Main in Fibre) from Alberta College of the Arts in 2020, and a BFA (Efficiency) from College of Alberta in 2006. Her textiles are hand tufted mixtures of wool, acrylic, silk, and velvet on rug warp, utilizing a tufting gun and punch needle strategies.
Saunders is a classically skilled actor who, prior to creating textiles, spent over a decade appearing, producing, and writing as a founding member of the Afrocentric Calgary theatre firm Ellipsis Tree Collective. The world of theater and movie propelled Saunders’ curiosity in set design, which additional ignited her curiosity in visible arts-specifically fibre arts.
Saunders’ work has been exhibited at Alberta Crafts Council, Edmonton, AB; Artwork Museum on the College of Toronto, ON; Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY; Modern Calgary, AB; Marion Nicoll Gallery, Calgary, AB; Metropolitan State College, Denver, CO; Minneapolis Institute of Artwork, Minneapolis, MN; and The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. She is included within the exhibition The Social Material at ArtsWestchester, White Plains, NY, opening October 2022.
Saunders’ work is within the collections of 21c Museum Lodge, Chicago, IL; Hill Harper Home, Detroit, MI; Minneapolis Institute of Artwork, and The Mint Museum.
Saunders was the Nationwide Winner of the Financial institution of Montreal’s 1st ART! competitors in 2020. Her work has been lined by nationwide and worldwide media together with Black Artwork Journal, Booooooom, Calgary Herald, Canadian Artwork, CBC, Colossal, Create! Journal, CTV, Design Milk, Elephant, Honest Woman Journal Galleries West, Pom-Pom Journal, Studio Journal, Floor Design Journal, Toronto Star, and Uppercase Journal.
She is represented by Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY, the place she may have her debut exhibition opening in March 2023.
Exhibition Packages
Simone Elizabeth Saunders will current an Artist Speak on the Museum on Saturday, October 22, 2022. Test the Museum web site for additional particulars on this and different exhibition applications beginning October 1, 2022.
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Concerning the Textile Museum of Canada
The Textile Museum of Canada conjures up understanding of the human expertise via textiles. It’s the solely museum in Canada devoted solely to textile arts. The Museum ignites creativity, conjures up marvel, and sparks dialog via the tales held inside a worldwide assortment of 15,000 textiles, energetic engagement with up to date artwork practices, a free textile studying hub, and public applications.
For extra info, go to: textilemuseum.ca, @textilemuseumofcanada, and #TMCtoronto, on Fb, Instagram, and Twitter.
