Artist Interview: Sasha Compton

 

Artist and designer Sasha Compton speaks about the interconnectivity between her ceramics, printmaking and drawing, and her love for St Cuthberts Mill Somerset paper.

Sasha Compton is a British artist who creates a variety of hand-built and painted ceramics, giclée prints, tiles, lino prints, lampshades, and original art. Her work has been featured in lifestyle magazines including Country Life, Homes & Gardens, and Tatler.

Prints on Somerset by Sasha Compton

Sasha - tell us about your practice and your journey to get to where you are now.

I have always been creative from a young age and have wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember. I was brought up in a creative family in the countryside, if I wasn’t outdoors, I was always making something in my mum’s studio. At a young age I felt I could express myself better through visuals than words (I later found out I was dyslexic). At school, art, textiles and ceramics were my best subjects and I was awarded an art scholarship at the age of 15.

I went on to Central St Martins (UAL) for an Art foundation where I learnt about conceptual art and the importance of ideas, beforehand traditional skills and research had played a huge part in my creative journey. I specialised in illustration at CSM. I then went on to Chelsea College of Art (UAL) to study a BA in Graphic Design Communication, where again I focussed on branding and illustration, I always had more of a physical approach to briefs than my peers who were very digitally focused. This worried me at the time but now I am grateful to be able to do both.

After completing my degree, I did a year of London-based internships in the creative industry ranging from advertising, graphics, textiles, and fashion. I worked as a Graphic Designer for 7 years and settled at a fashion company in Amsterdam working my way up to a Senior level. I got to a point where I wanted to do my own thing and create / design for something I fully believed in. I always kept my art going and as interest grew, I decided to focus on being a self-employed Artist / Designer in 2020. I now take on a number of design commissions a year as well as creating art full-time and love having a mixture of art and design in my creative practise and life. I feel it is the best of both worlds and I try to use my skills and experience to my best ability; straddling the role of an Artist / Designer.

Can you describe your creative process and where you find inspiration for your work?

For my personal art I am inspired by what I know best; nature, classical art and colour. I am particularly engaged in the idea of mixing old with new in a joyful way, so I love traditional topics that are recreated with a fresh colourful perspective. The beauty of nature always amazes me, as does the power of colour and positivity. I am very inspired by hand made, crafted objects – seeing a human mark or imperfection on something makes the item so much more special and unique in my eyes and I try to bring this into my art by working freehand or using unpredictable materials or techniques.

Do your artistic practices in ceramics, printmaking, and drawing influence and interconnect with one another, or do you treat each medium as separate and independent from the rest?

They do interconnect yes! I sketch a lot. Before making a ceramic artwork, I will always sketch my designs and these freehand illustrations often end up as prints (or recently tiles for my Ca Pietra collaboration). I see my work as one voice in different mediums, and enjoy exploring the different wags of showing an idea. Sometimes I prefer the sketches to the ceramic work, and sometimes what I paint on a plate might work really well transformed into a lino print. Of course, not everything works out but that playful exploration is a significant part of my process. I have to play around a lot to get to end result and that makes my journey more exciting for me. 

With your printmaking and drawing, what are your go-to papers to use and why?

Being a lover of imperfections and character, I use a textured paper with deckled edges (or hand deckle the paper myself). St Cuthberts Mill Somerset range is my ‘go to’ range. The 500g radiant white textured paper is great for drawing and painting, I love the deckled edges. And 175g soft white book is a great paper for printing where I can get print easily with the thinner weight of paper.

You have done a lot of collaborations with various companies and artists – what has been your most exciting project to date?

I feel so lucky, I am proud of all my collaborations! So grateful for all the support I have had so far. Collaborations have helped me push my boundaries and I love working with other creatives, it’s a nice change from being a one-woman business. Recently I painted an egg for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations which was on show in Chelsea via the Elephant Family. The egg was inspired by a Faberge egg and Faberge saw it on show and requested it for a Faberge exhibition, this was so special to me. I have also been commissioned by some incredible interior designers such as Martin Brudnizki for a couple of hand-painted projects which I loved every second of, it was so inspiring and an amazing opportunity!

If you could collaborate with any artist, living or deceased, on a project, who would it be, and what kind of project would you want to work on together?

Wow, that’s a tricky question. Some of my favourite artists ever are Grayson Perry, David Hockney, Picasso (his ceramics in particular) and Venessa Bell. So, a messy studio day with any of them would be dreamy. I would love to do a silk scarf collaboration or something textile based as I always feel my work would translate well onto fabrics, or perhaps paint a huge mural somewhere unusual! I loved doing the light installation at Frameless Gallery, a new challenge is always appealing to me.

Prints on Somerset by Sasha Compton

Links

www.sashacompton.com

www.instagram.com/sashacompton_design

To learn more about Somerset printmaking papers visit our website.

Article originated by The Gallery at Green & Stone, as part of their 'Works on Paper' exhibition. Our thanks to them for allowing us to replicate the piece.

Prints on Somerset by Sasha Compton