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SASHA SYKES STUDIED architecture and worked in 3D branding and design for retail before creating her Straw Cube piece for her father’s 60th birthday. The piece kickstarted a career as an artist and furniture maker who combines natural materials such as flowers, foliage and fungi with resin and perspex. Along with artist Sarah Browne, Sasha Sykes has just been awarded the prestigious Golden Fleece Award 2025. Ruth O’Connor speaks to her about her career so far and the importance of the award which was bequeathed by artist, researcher and educator Lillias Mitchell.
Lillias Mitchell established the Golden Fleece Award to help artists to pursue their careers by offering financial support. How do you feel as the co-winner of this year’s award?
Talk about a confidence kick! That people think that my work is on a steady enough path in the right direction to give me an award of this calibre and to put their faith in me is so appreciated.
Tell us about some of your favourite pieces or projects.
I have really loved telling the story of my mum’s garden in my Filial Love project which is still in process. It has given me an unexpected perspective on things and allowed me to showcase all her brilliant and unsung skills of which I am so proud.
I will always treasure installing my piece As I Am Now in Aldborough House for a photoshoot with Donal Moloney in January 2018 before going to an art fair in Basel. It was all a bit nuts – the place was in bits with broken windows, pigeon poop everywhere and ivy covering the floors but we had a dream team, everyone was on board and we made it happen. I felt really proud of that.
What have you learned so far in business?
Choose carefully who you work with as you will spend most of your life in their company. Be bold and be brave – reach out to those you admire and ask their advice. People love to be asked and often respond. Find your community – the sharing of knowledge is helpful on so many levels.
Have a five year plan. Having a plan is a good way to remember who you are and to stay on track as there will be many curve balls thrown your way. I did a ‘Women in Business’ course with the Carlow Enterprise Board 17 years ago that was invaluable – you need to understand finance and I really think that they should focus more on this in art school.
Keep in mind what I call the ‘One in Ten Rule’ - realistically around one in ten jobs will present some form of problem – be it the client being tricky or not paying up or requesting the (almost) impossible. You just have to let it go and move on.
What has been the most challenging time for you as a creative?
I have three kids and the first two were born 18 months apart. I didn’t have the time, the finances or the headspace to work and after some time my confidence totally crashed. Whenever I meet artists or makers who have young kids I always advise them to keep tipping away. Once you stop working it is very hard to get back into it – you can’t anticipate how long it takes to get your head back – let alone your confidence. In my mind, the defining characteristic of an artist is someone who cannot survive by not making their art.
Where do you look for inspiration?
The particular landscape I’m working with will usually be the direct source of inspiration initially. For example, I did a piece about the river Liffey last year so I walked it and traced it from its boggy source in the Wicklow mountains down to the quays in Dublin and out to the sea. I’ve also been working on a body of work about my mother’s garden – tracing it through the changing seasons.
The Irish coastline has been a huge inspiration over the last few years too – I made a seaweed dining table for some wonderful clients in Westport using some of the kelp they had been growing in Clew Bay. I forage and collect material responsibly from the land so the plants I collect become a secondary layer of inspiration often driving the design of the pieces I make.
Describe your workspace to us.
I moved from Dublin back to north Carlow at the start of the pandemic. I did a big job in the UK that allowed me to squirrel some cash aside and to build a new studio here. It’s a dream for any artist or maker to build their own space and to have it tailored to their needs.
I have four areas – the designing/ planning area which is clean and bright, the dirty workshop space, the casting room with the extractor set up and the storage up above. There are triple-doors to open up each space and all of the tables are on castors so that everything can be moved around.
The whole project had a very low carbon footprint which was hugely important to me. I used local and sustainable materials – from the recycled windows to the raw wool insulation. It’s very close to my house which can be both a blessing and a curse.
Describe a typical working day.
I try to get castings done first thing in the morning and last thing at night as they require time to cure and settle. A piece could have anything from 10 to 100 castings, so, from a time perspective, I prioritise this.
I am usually working on a number of projects each at various different stages, so my day could involve doing anything from a client visit or speaking to a client in America on Zoom. I could be working on designs on the computer or in a sketchbook, sorting through the plant material for a piece or planning what I need for the next stages of a piece.
The fabricating side of things rarely goes smoothly as I am working with materials that aren’t really designed for what I am asking them to do – so there is a lot of brainstorming, problem solving and troubleshooting.
How important is collaboration to what you do?
I can make my pieces from start to finish on my own but to have my work seen at a certain level I need to produce a minimum number of top-notch pieces every year so I have people who help me part-time – mostly with the fabrication side of things. I’m nearly 50 and I’m not as strong as I used to be. The materials are extremely heavy to work with – I keep joking that I’m going to move into jewellery design!
I have often questioned the ideal studio size and the amount of collaboration that is necessary. If you grow too large as a practice you end up managing people more than designing or making and this is not my forte. However, I love to work with different makers – bringing their skills into the practice and letting this guide some of the designs. I am really excited to be forming a small but very solid team at the moment – I can see the work we make moving in some different and fun directions.
What’s next for you and your work in 2025?
I’ll be exhibiting work from Filial Love in a solo show at the RHA in November, so that is my land focus – working with plants collected from my 84-year-old mother’s incredible garden. I did a number of wall sculptures last year and am now looking to do some more design objects this year.
I’m also extremely excited to be doing a deep dive into the world of seaweed, playing with recently developed resins, carrageen mosses and shells to create some new pieces. I’m not sure what way it will go but I’m letting the material discoveries lead the way. I have Lillias Mitchell and the Golden Fleece Award to thank for this as yet unknown journey.
To see more of Sasha Sykes’ extraordinary pieces incorporating natural materials, resin and Perspex go to sashasykes.com online and @sashasykes on Instagram. Sasha Sykes is represented by the Oliver Sears Gallery at oliversearsgallery.com.
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