Sarah Muwanga is a British-Ugandan contemporary figurative artist whose intuitive practice explores the interior lives and emotional states of Black women. Her paintings centre moments of stillness, intimacy and quiet strength, using layered colour and expressive mark-making to create works that invite reflection long after the first encounter.
Sarah has quickly established herself as an important emerging voice in contemporary figurative painting. She is an Associate Member of the Society of Women Artists and a New English Art Club Artist Scholar. Her recent exhibitions include Tethered – Where the Line Holds at CasildART (2026), Windbreaks at Hotwalls Studios (2026), exhibitions at LumiNoir Gallery, Fitzrovia Gallery and Chilli Gallery (2026), the Soho Open (2025), and the Mall Galleries (2025).
For ONAARA's Interior Worlds collection, Sarah created Sisterhood, an original painting exploring the quiet strength, intimacy and belonging found in relationships between women. The work became the emotional starting point for The Dome, shaping not only its interior but the silhouette itself.
The painting speaks of connection without sentimentality. The women are intertwined through flowing, continuous lines that create a quiet sense of protection and mutual dependence. There is strength in the composition, but also tenderness. Looking at the work, we saw not simply individual figures, but a relationship between them: a visual expression of what it feels like to be held within a community of women. There is a depth to the painting that extends far beyond its surface.
Those flowing curves became the starting point for The Dome. We allowed its rhythm to shape the leather form itself. The generous volume of the bag, its sweeping silhouette and softened contours all emerged through an extended dialogue with the painting. The result is a piece designed from the inside out, where the artwork informs not only what is held within, but the object's very architecture.
Only later did we learn that Sarah grew up as one of five sisters. That detail made perfect sense. The sense of familiarity, protection and interconnectedness woven throughout Sisterhood feels lived rather than imagined. It gives the painting an emotional authenticity that is difficult to manufacture and impossible to overlook.
At ONAARA, every collection begins with an original work of art. We believe exceptional objects should carry not only craftsmanship, but meaning. Sisterhood embodies that philosophy beautifully, reminding us that the most resonant design often begins with a deeply human story.
https://sarahmuwanga.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sarahmuwanga_art/
Sisterhood
Sarah Muwanga, 2025