Frame of Mind: Sasha Compton

Photos by Camille Liu Nock

Frame of Mind is a series exploring the connection between creativity and memory. Each profile spotlights an artist whose work actively engages with the themes of remembering, forgetting, identity and lived experience.

I first met British artist and designer Sasha Compton in our late twenties, both navigating life as young creatives in London. We had a happy shoot day once when I visited her studio to see her work and talk about her practice – not dissimilar to the one I was travelling to today. On the train over to Hackney, I watched our old video and smiled to myself, thinking about how much had changed in the span of a few years. A visual time capsule, gifted to us by these mediums. Walking into Sasha’s home now, the moment felt charged with a sense of occasion – a fun day of shooting video and photos together lay ahead. As she opened the door, I smiled for a second time as we were both sporting bobs… tell me you’re in your thirties without telling me you’re in your thirties!

Sasha’s work has a remarkable ability to light up its surroundings with nature-inspired, folkloric and classical subject matter. She’s very much like this in person, too – she lights up the room with her bright disposition. What has always struck me about Sasha is her fervent connection to nature, memory and the romance found in everyday life. I loved hearing about her childhood: knee-deep in the cool waves off the Isle of Mull, digging holes in the sand with her brothers, treasure hunting for creative inspiration with her mum in Yorkshire.

Her work is multidisciplinary – painting, ceramics, murals, lino-prints, lampshades, stationery design, illustration, plaster casting. Her art can burst into being on any surface. So I was looking forward to seeing how this manifested in her new home, especially as both Sasha and her husband Tom are creatives. Would every wall be painted with a beautiful mural? Sasha chuckles at this. Funnily enough, she was in the midst of completing a mural in their bathroom – a stunning forest green with ivory sprigs of seaweed.

It was so nice to see how the couple’s creativity had cast a spell on every room. The fireplace, in particular, left an imprint on me. Sasha and Tom lived in Amsterdam for many years, and later, as part of their wedding designs, Sasha hand-painted and gifted a tile to each guest as an homage to their time there. Today, their fireplace is covered in some of these tiles – a visual totem to their continuing story. I love how something functional can be made not only beautiful but romantic, too.

As we closed the day discussing the concept of frame of mind, I came away from my time with Sasha feeling like my own had shifted for the better. How one can alchemise something seemingly ordinary into something fizzing with meaning. On the train back, I looked out the window instead of at my phone, dreaming up what small but mighty things I could bring into my own everyday life – and how others who encounter Sasha and her work might do the same.