An Island of Light1- 30 September 2026
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved
Sarah Simonds
©All rights reserved

Sarah Simonds

Botanical sculptor

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Sculpted from the earth

  • Sarah creates perfectly imperfect organic sculptures and wall hangings
  • Movement plays a central role in all her artworks
  • She describes her work as a melting pot of histories and cultures

Sarah Simonds is a self-taught textile artist who works with natural materials. From rush and bamboo to jute, many of her materials are grown in her Buckinghamshire garden or sourced locally. “My artistic roots trace back to my childhood. Early influences came from my mother, who was one of the first straw-work students at West Dean College, and my time at Forest School,” she says. As a young child, Sarah would gather sheep's wool caught on barbed wire to knot, weave and dye, even carving her own drop spindle from foraged wood. While raising her family, she kept her creative practice alive by selling salt-dough pieces at craft fairs. In 2015, she shifted her focus back to knotted, woven and coiled plant fibre work. In 2023, Saatchi Studio discovered her on Instagram, leading to a major commission for the eco-focused 1 Hotels group. Today, her work is held in private and commercial collections internationally.

Sarah Simonds is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2005 and she started teaching in 2021.

INTERVIEW

I work with bamboo, calla lilies, New Zealand flax, cordyline, sedge and even garden dandelions. I gather river rush from the local stream, and use natural dyes such as oak galls, loquat leaves and madder roots. My garden is a 20-year project inspired from the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden at the Tate in St Ives.

I hand form every vessel using a coiling technique, entirely without the use of moulds. My process includes knotting, weaving, looping and twining. Within twining alone, I explore diverse methods to manipulate colour, shift directions and build different textures and patterns.

Some of my works are planned and begin with a sketch. However, I often allow myself to be guided by the material. Making mistakes is important to me. At times, I believe I am experiencing a creative block, but I just keep working until a piece finally clicks.

I enjoy being immersed in nature: the smell and texture is deeply sensory. I am interacting with a medium that I love, and I enjoy the rhythm and movement in the making process. I love all of it. The possibilities are endless.

Sarah Simonds

Botanical sculptor

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

ADDRESS

Address upon request, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

AVAILABILITY

By appointment only

LANGUAGES

English

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