Playdate is back! I’m so grateful to visit makers in their studios and get a chance to take a peek into their world. Not only do we get to hang out, but I also learn so much along the way!
For the second Playdate, I visited Sasha Heath of hellotomato, a Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist specialising in hand-painted murals and sculptures. Her colourful, playful work brings character and joy to everyday spaces.
Sasha’s studio feels like a little magical land of creatures and animals! I was intrigued by the incredible detail and scale of her work. What I love most about Sasha’s work is how it makes us imagine and dive into our own imagination.
Here’s our conversation!
Can you tell us a little about hellotomato and how it all began?
hellotomato first began out of pure joy and a love for painting. My very first mural was at a co-working space called The Hub on Bourke St back in 2012, this led to a project downstairs at Kinfolk cafe. The barista at Kinfolk opened his first cafe called 'King of the Castle' in Geelong and asked me to design and paint a mural for his space. Since then, every project I've worked on has come through word of mouth, which I feel incredibly grateful for.
Interestingly, my murals were originally painted entirely in black and white because I was terrified of using colour! Over the years, I gradually became more confident experimenting with different colour palettes, and now colour has become one of the defining features of my work. It's often the calming colours that draws people in.
Your work mainly consists of illustration, murals, and ceramics, ranging from small to large scales. What draws you to working across these different mediums?
As many of you know, asking an artist to stick to just one medium is a bit like asking a kid in a candy store to pick just one lolly!
I've always loved trying new creative things, and I think that's what has made me such a versatile artist. Ever since I was little, I was constantly drawing bigger than the A4 page would allow, so mural painting feels like a pretty natural fit. The bigger the wall, the better!
While murals and digital illustration are a huge part of what I do, ceramics has slowly stolen a piece of my heart too. These days, sculpting is my creative outlet. When your passion becomes your profession, you don't always want to spend your downtime doing more work. So what used to be sketching in my spare time has transformed into getting my hands dirty with clay instead.
Public art becomes part of people’s everyday lives. What do you hope viewers feel when they encounter your work?
I love the idea that my artwork might quietly weave its way into someone's day. Maybe it's a mural they walk past on their morning commute, a visit to my ceramic studio at Gasworks during a farmers market, or an illustration they unexpectedly spot while flipping through a magazine.
If a mural, illustration, or sculpture can make someone smile or brighten their day even just a little, then I feel like I've done my job.
What project has felt the most meaningful to you so far?
My most meaningful project to date would have to be the mural I painted for Wyndham City Council on the wall of Saltwater Swim School in Point Cook. The mural celebrates the local wetlands, a place I often visit for walks and inspiration. It’s located right next to Saltwater Community Centre, where I usually share Wednesday lunches with community leaders Bob and Fiona, who have so generously welcomed me into the space. Anyone who works for themselves knows how quiet and isolating it can feel at times, so these midweek lunches have become a really special and grounding part of my week.
What makes this project so special is that it feels deeply connected to my own community. Rather than creating artwork for a place I only visit briefly, I was able to contribute something lasting to a neighbourhood that is part of my everyday life. It brings me so much joy every time I see it and reminds me why I love creating public art in the first place.
Do you have a favourite piece that we should all check out?
Saltwater Swim School in Point Cook, Victoria
What are you currently working on, and what can we look forward to from you this year?
I am currently working on a large 33-metre mural on the exterior of a kindergarten in Greenvale, in collaboration with Hume City Council. Painting in the rain and wind has certainly been a challenge, but it’s been a really enjoyable experience, especially when you look up and see 10 kids waving at you from the windows! It’s also been a real pleasure working alongside my new friend and fellow mural artist Elise Marcianti, who I met during a recent artist residency in Tasmania. The design is inspired by the local flora and fauna, with the colour palette chosen by the kids themselves. Their playful colouring-in scribbles have also been incorporated into the final design. I don’t normally work with such intense colours, but they feel completely right for this project and really bring the piece and the building to life.
With my ceramic work, I’m currently making a series of sculptures of my family members reimagined as animals, which I’ll be exhibiting at Sol Gallery in Fitzroy this December. These are my first large-scale sculptures, inspired by workshops with US based sculptor Beth Cavener, who encouraged me to think bigger (literally!) and expand the scale and ambition of my sculptures.
