Upon entering Sasha's home for the first time, I sensed the richness of a life that had been well lived. Conversations—both uplifting and challenging—echoed in his space, daily miracles and messes were present. Sasha, who lives with his wife Sarah and their two sons, Judah (11) and Ollie (9), allows his life to overflow with meaning. From the moment I met Sasha, I felt a profound warmth and an understanding that he had walked with God, embracing the joys and struggles of life while remaining anchored in his faith. We explored the boroughs of New York together, starting with his home in Brooklyn. I visited his new studio located in an old church. Here, Sasha seemed truly at home, God’s presence rested on him. As I observed his paintings, we began to have a conversation.

He started by telling me that while painting can be hard work, it is also a form of rest for him. He recalled his children playing with Legos, the joy of building something, not always knowing where it was going, listening to his intuition, and allowing his years of experience as a painter, and creativity to lead the way.

His work contains the human experience: grief, joy, and celebration. In his artist statement, he shares that he danced and lamented during the creation of a recent body of work. To him, art is more than just expression, it’s a way of life, a way of relating to God, and a healing balm to the brokenness of this world. It points to color when life often feels grey, and a deeper meaning to the suffering that lingers as he runs his race toward the eternal kingdom of God. His work speaks for itself, and it tells the story of many lives, desires, hopes, dreams, and wonders.

As an artist, Sasha has always seen a synergy between what the church wants to do and what artists are doing. He mentioned how churches and artists are both counter-cultural symbols. Churches point to a different way to live, a glimpse of what life can be like through following Jesus, creating spaces of rest and worship. Artists co-exist within a city that runs on ambition, career, and commerce. Yet these artists are going against the grain, giving up things like comfort, and stability, and devoting themselves to their craft.

He then refers to the gospel and how counter-cultural it is. Jesus asked his followers to lay down their lives and give up the things of this world, "the first will be last and the last will be first." and walk towards something more meaningful. In that way, he feels that what is happening in both the church and the arts is similar to the counter-cultural narrative in the life of Jesus. His passion for working with Cru Arts and Culture connects these two worlds. He believes that the church has a deep wealth of life and artists are asking big questions, with the understanding that this world is not how it should be. He desires to translate the gospel into the language of creatives so that artists can see Jesus, who calls us to ask questions, bring change, and go against the norm.

Sasha lives and works in New York. He is currently working on large scale oil paintings in preparation for his next gallery show.