Q & A with Sasha Shalmina

Four of us were the first to meet up in London; myself Brian Biggs, Joel Lambeth and Sasha Shalmina we all became friends that first evening over beers and grub at Barge East on the canal. In the end we were the last four to part. First in, last out.

I really enjoyed getting to know Sasha, a very vivacious person who lives in Glasgow, Scotland with per partner Sandy who came down toward the end of the week.

Questions and Answers about the Residency

What were your thoughts, hopes, fears, expectations about the residency before you arrived?

Cecil, it was such a pleasure to meet you - thank you so much for making this residency so memorable and so valuable for all of us!

Before I arrived, I was super excited to have been selected and I was really looking forward to meeting with and working alongside another 16 collage artists. Since I hardly know any of my ‘colleagues’ in person, this was going to be a real treat!

Besides the excitement I was also nervous. Five days to produce new work isn’t a long time, especially as I tend to work slowly. I like to let a piece rest for a while before I commit to glueing it down, so I was worried I may not be 100% happy with what ends up on the wall by the end of the week. The exhibition at the end certainly added a little bit of extra pressure for me.

Looking back, how did the week compare to whatever you imagined?

It was way better than I could have ever anticipated! I was going to bed with a huge smile on my face every night.

What were your biggest surprises, personal struggles and successes?

My biggest struggle is always perfectionism and weighing my work down with a lot of ‘shoulds’. However, by the end of the week I did loosen up and, to my surprise I was actually able to work faster and still remain pleased with the outcome!

It was great to come away with some new experimental work, stuff I wouldn’t normally do that I can now develop into several new directions and series. I was hoping this would happen, but it wasn’t a given.

How did you feel about your interactions with the other participants and the group as a whole?

I didn’t expect that we would all bond so beautifully as a group! I think the collage community is actually quite unique, it’s a really special pocket within the art world where people are just extra lovely, from my experience anyway. No ego! Maybe it’s because we make work out of other people’s stuff? Anyway, I spent a lot more time socialising than I had expected and I really enjoyed learning so much about everyone’s process and ideas. One week after the residency, our WhatsApp group chat is still totally buzzing! We are asking each other questions, supporting one another and also just having a laugh. Priceless!

Now that you are home, how do you feel about your overall experience?

I feel like a kid who just got off the best rollercoaster ride ever, shouting: ‘Again, again, again!!’ :)

Inspired and invigorated, I want to do more residencies, I want to make more collage, I want to paint, and generally grab life with both hands.

Any suggestions for the next one we do based on your experience?

I would like to have spent a little more time collaging, an extra day or two would have been great.

Anything we left out or should have spent more time on?

I loved the 30 min challenges that we did - they were awesome! Would have been great to do more of those. They really helped me to loosen up and I loved seeing everyone’s completely different approaches!

What if anything do you feel will be helpful to you in the future from this experience?

I came away feeling that I know myself better as an artist, I know what I like and why as well as what doesn’t work for me, it felt like I went through some kind of a verification process... I also came away with a wealth of incredibly useful knowledge and advice on how to progress in my art career, not just with my collage, but within the art world in general. Didn’t expect that and am super grateful! It’s amazing to have more confidence and clarity. Let’s do this!!

(all artworks from below were made at the Collage Residency in London)

About Sasha Shalmina

Sasha Shalmina is an experimental multimedia artist, based in Glasgow, Scotland. During her childhood she fell in love with drawing portraits, as she found the human form to be endlessly inspiring and captivating.

She went on to study BSc Hons Architecture at Strathclyde University in Glasgow. Her architectural education gave her the ability to push her traditional skills much further and into the realm of design, digital art, moving image and animation.

When she worked as a graphic designer she became really passionate about collage, as this medium allowed endless possibilities for self expression and experimentation. In 2024 she started to run her own collage classes at the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow.

Sasha continually experiments with different media and is constantly exploring new ideas, styles and techniques, but she is best known for her magical and evocative abstract art. These works explore the landscapes of her subconscious mind, her thoughts, dreams, feelings and other dimensions of the human experience.

In 2021 her animated paintings, a collaboration with her father, architect and artist, Ivan Shalmin were exhibited at the Saatchi gallery in London and in 2022 they were shown in Amsterdam and also at the Louvre in Paris.

Collage is my creative playground. I love using found images to create new stories and to experiment with digital and analogue techniques. For me, the beauty of this medium is that there are no rules, only the limits of your imagination. Not having to stick to any one style, genre or narrative is exhilarating and liberating. With every new series that I make, I set myself a new challenge and it’s the perfect way for me to explore my creativity.

website: https://sashashalmina.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/sasha_collage