Sassa’s Story

Gender: trans

Sexuality: bisexual I suppose. Gender doesn’t really matter to me at all. 

Pronouns: He/Him. I don’t mind they from those who default to that before knowing people.

From & Current home: Huntington, West Virginia

Cultural background/identity: Appalachian to my core

Interests: Painting, reading, gardening, cooking, writing, watching drag with my husband, making things of all kinds. 

I’m a 43 year old Appalachian artist. I’m married to the love of my life and we share three adult children and the best little French bulldog in the world named Carol. I’ve known I was trans since I was a very young child, though I certainly didn’t have the language for that then. I spent many years trying to decipher and label my feelings around gender, but I’m over it. I’m ok with it being something I don’t fully understand, and I don’t go out of my way to define it for others. I take the transition steps that make me feel better in my skin, and all I call myself is “trans”. I’m sure that leaves people who don’t know my past with more questions than answers, but that’s okay with me. 

I don’t really express my gender in an outward way much-I actually think I dress a little boring. Maybe it’s because I do all that big, colorful expression through my work, or maybe sometimes I just like the option to blend in a little. I’m lucky to be able to make a living full-time as an artist, and I love finding ways for my work to intersect and involve my local queer community. I’m currently Vice President of Huntington Pride, and it feels like a real privilege to do that work. We recently finished Huntington’s first pride crosswalk mural, and it was such an amazing experience to spend time bringing my design to life with my Pride family and community members. I’m writing this post-election, so it’s hard to get dreamy about my future and the future of my work without feeling a lot of anxiety, but I remain hopeful and committed to trying to help make things better for my kids’ generation. 

PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTE:    Sassa has an extensive portfolio of work, but part of the story behind his portrait project “100 Bad Ass Women” really stuck with me; I was blown away by the beauty and magnitude of this project (go look it up!!).  During the depths of COVID lockdowns during 2020, Sassa started diving into painting portraits of women making a resolve to paint 100 portraits over 100 days.   He often stayed up through the night, and friends/family supported by bringing meals so Sassa could dedicate more of the day to painting these portraits of a huge spectrum of women with divergent lives.  His own self portrait seemed to be the most challenging and elusive, waiting until the end to complete it.  The project ended up being a key part in his journey towards embracing his transness.  “Of COURSE I was painting women to get here …” Sassa almost laughed at himself as he shared this story.   

It brought me to reflect on the photo project; sometimes you don’t know with 100% certainty why you’re doing something, but you know in your gut there’s something deeply personal behind why you’re called to do it.   I started photographing people on the road two years ago with a very specific vision … but it has opened up doors in my personal gender journeys that has brought me more euphoria and the strength to carve my own way through this world.  Thank you, Sassa, for sharing your journey and what a powerful tool art can be.