SIMONE ELIZABETH SAUNDERS

ENCOMPASS THE GALAXY

Published by Contemporary Calgary

Pre-orders for Simone Elizabeth Saunders: Encompass the Galaxy are now available online, with books available for in-person purchase at The C Shop at Contemporary Calgary starting summer 2025.

*Online pre-orders are only available in Canada and the US.

For wholesale inquiries, bulk orders or international shipping requests, please contact Beth at beth@contemporarycalgary.com.

Simone Elizabeth Saunders: Encompass the Galaxy is a powerful debut monograph chronicling the rise and resonance of one of Canada’s most compelling contemporary textile artists. Spanning 40 works from 2020 to 2023, this richly illustrated volume captures a pivotal moment in both global history and Saunders’ personal artistic evolution.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Saunders’ vibrant, hand-tufted textiles—steeped in themes of Black womanhood, ancestral memory, and resistance—garnered international acclaim. Through her signature punch needle technique, she transforms fibre into a language of strength, storytelling, and survival.

This publication highlights Saunders' acclaimed series Protect Black Women, Ancestral Bodies, and Verchü and the Chronicles of the Unicorn, offering insight into her practice, process, and unwavering commitment to justice and joy. Alongside a foreword by editor Rachel Anne Farquharson, Encompass the Galaxy features texts by Julie Baumgardner and Julie Crooks, poetry by Saunders herself, and a Q&A between the artist and Contemporary Calgary's Senior Curator Kanika Anand—all of which contextualize Saunders’ work within broader conversations about race, gender, heritage, and materiality.

Published by Contemporary Calgary with generous support from The Flanagan Foundation, RBC, Dr. John Lacey CM, the Canada Council for the Arts, and other community partners, this book is a landmark contribution to the scholarship of Black Canadian art and a testament to Saunders’ enduring vision.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Simone Elizabeth Saunders (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.

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 efforts in highlighting and advancing Black and societal issues through the arts.

Saunders is actively creating new textiles from her studio in Moh’kinstsis (Calgary, Canada), with her work being displayed internationally, including recent exhibitions by Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, SCOPE and LOOP Miami, Expo Chicago, 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).

u•n•I•t•y: Simone Elizabeth Saunders was shown at Contemporary Calgary from November 4, 2021, to January 30, 2022.