Biography

She creates work for plays, installations at festivals, events and performance art.
Working collaboratively, pushing boundaries and a focus on sustainability are at the core of her creative process.
Sascha is a co-founder of the North West Design Allotment.

Companies/Artists that Sascha has collaborated with include: Paperwork Theatre,  Maiden Moor Productions, The Thelmas, Ugly Bucket Theatre, Goblin Theatre, Action Transport Theatre, Slung Low, Wild Rumpus, Heart of Glass, the vacuum cleaner & Madlove Ltd, Emma Geraghty, Toni-Dee Paul, Lucy Bradley, Tracey Gibbs, Fabrication Studio, Bolton Octagon, Headstrung Puppets, VIP Puppets, 101 Outdoor Arts, Liverpool Lantern Company.

“What makes Newham, Newham?”

“What was the most challenging moment during the first wave?”

“And what was your most beautiful?”

In the Autumn of 2020 I filmed 47 of Newham’s health workers, from ward clarks to the medical director, having a conversation with me. I asked each individual a series of simple questions about their experiences of the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Hello. I’m James, an artist and mental health activist. I make art about themes like mental health, and how we care for each other.

Filmed with one camera in an informal and honest way in my artist studio, I learnt about the complexity of each health professional’s experiences. The challenges they faced, the compromises forced upon them and yet the beauty in caring for their patients and each other. I heard about the reality of how these workers coped (and didn’t) and how this compares to the official narrative of ‘heroes’ we hear so much about. Their stories reveal their moral struggles, resulting in mental health challenges and frustrations, but they also speak of their resilience in team work and peer support, and their hopes for the Newham community they serve.

Designer Sascha Gilmour and I would like to share some of what I caught on camera and what I’ve learnt with you. Join us for an evening of film, storytelling and music to remember the details of a truly extraordinary time, population and place.