In her dazzling and richly symbolic textiles, Simone Elizabeth Saunders threads together history, myth, and identity with an unapologetically bold hand. Using vibrant tufted fabrics as her medium, Saunders crafts visual narratives that radiate strength and personal sovereignty. Words like “TRUTH” and “LOVE” are woven into her compositions — not as decoration, but as declarations — alongside patterns and figures that pulse with cultural memory. Her art functions both as a reclamation and an elevation of a craft once dismissed as decorative, challenging long-held assumptions about whose stories are preserved and celebrated in galleries and institutions.
The women in Saunders’ work are unapologetically central, commanding space with regal posture and magnetic presence. In recent pieces such as Girl with Butterflies and She Manifests Her Destiny, figures engage with snakes, insects, and flora that feel more sacred than symbolic — guardians, guides, and witnesses to the worlds these women inhabit. These elements are not incidental but integral to her storytelling, suggesting interconnectedness with nature and ancestral wisdom. Each portrait becomes a kind of modern mythology, where femininity is aligned with elemental power rather than constrained by it.
Rooted in the deep legacies of the global Black diaspora, Saunders’ practice is as intellectually potent as it is visually sumptuous. Her textiles blend nostalgia, heritage, and personal experience, translating them into layered compositions that celebrate survival and transformation. By working in a medium historically viewed as subordinate to painting or sculpture, she redefines both the form and its function. In Saunders’ hands, textile art becomes a site of resistance, reverence, and radical beauty.
More info: Website, Instagram.
“Girl with Butterflies” (2024)
“She Reveals” (2022)
“(Be)Longing IV” (2023)
“Girl with Hummingbirds” (2024)
“Internal Reflections” (2022)
“(Be)Longing VIII” (2024)
“Release in Darkness” (2022)
“She Manifests Her Destiny” (2024)
“Break Away at Dawn” (2023)
“Sun Rays” (2022)
“Girl With A Basket of Fruit” (2024)
