Sabella Flagg

Sabella Flagg is an artist, designer, and writer from Chicago now living in Seattle. She creates under the moniker “the monarq” which is a multidisciplinary art practice. Capturing the relationship between the environment and the journey towards self-discovery is a principal theme of her work. 

Her move to the Pacific Northwest inspired a deeper examination of selfhood, integrating collage, fiber arts, and portraiture. Her kaleidoscopic images and collage reflect the multifaceted nature of identity while her portraits, particularly of African American women, aim to celebrate and give visibility to their beauty and complexity. Sabella’s analog photography captures the fragmented and subjective nature of memory through techniques like double exposure, simulating the layered and dream-like quality of recollection. The addition of fiber art to her practice adds a lush, textural, dimension to her multidisciplinary approach.

Sabella, known as “the monarq”, earned her BFA in Graphic Design with minors in Lithographic Printmaking and Creative Writing from Drake University. Her exhibitions include group shows like "ACES: Artists of Color Expo" at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and “Inside/ Outside” with the Museum of Museums. Sabella has participated in artist residencies including the Willapa Bay AiR and Vashon Artist Residency. She is a recipient of the Artist Trust GAP Grant and has had public installations with the city of SeaTac and Seattle Restored.

Website / https://themonarq.com/