Volunteer introduction- Sas

Hi there! I’m Sas, one of the newer volunteers working with Seventeen Nineteen. I’m really enjoying my time volunteering so far so thought I would introduce myself and the work I am doing a bit more!

So what is there to know about me? Well, I’m 24 and a non-binary, autistic artist. It sounds very neat and tidy when I write it that way but I prefer my art to be a little messier. I mostly work with mixed media, using any kind of material I can get my hands on: anything from paint and old magazine clippings to used packaging and old stamps. That’s one of the things I love most about this kind of art, there’s so much freedom and flexibility to create with whatever is around you. Using this kind of art allows me to better make sense of the world which, as an autistic person, can sometimes be a little bit more confusing. But this art style is even more rewarding when the focus is something as powerful as capturing moments of history.

My main ongoing project with Seventeen Nineteen is a mixed media art visitor’s book that I am working on. When it is completed, it will be a book that visitors can flip through and gain more of a visual understanding of the history of Holy Trinity Church and the role it has played over time and also in the area of Sunderland. Each page will feature a different aspect of the church, its history and the work Seventeen Nineteen are doing in the community, but not in ways that you might expect. Some pages will be straightforward, others will appear more abstract but every piece of art within the book will somehow capture the importance of Seventeen Nineteen and Holy Trinity Church in Sunderland.

It is a slow process as it can take a while to source a range of mixed media art materials but I hope that when the visitors book is completed, many people can enjoy experiencing the church and Sunderland in a different visual format.