Gherdai Hassell is a Bermudian born, China trained, multidisciplinary contemporary artist, writer and storyteller, based in Manchester, UK. Her work investigates memory and nostalgia to create unexpected narratives surrounding identity. She uses collage to thread and weave histories, and tales of transformation passed down through family lineages. Her work typically centers female bodies, simultaneously existing within realms of past, present, and future. Diasporic pasts become re-informed by Black futures, where the resulting present is experienced as a living “Artifacts”. Her work is an exploration of identity as an exploration of materials, and social practice. The work suggests that identity should be self-determined and understood, and contextualized through connection with others. Her multimedia work reimagines relationships with the body as avatar, social space and the invisible world.
Her artwork is a part of public and private collections across the world and on permanent display in the Government Administration Building, Hamilton, Bermuda. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and biennials in Bermuda, USA and China. Gherdai is currently an MFA candidate at the China Academy of Art.
Statement
I use collage as a means to derive meaning from seemingly unrelated things. The thread of influence that runs through this work is the impact of histories, tales of transformation passed down through family lineages. We are all interconnected. My work aims to link the present to the future and the past through connecting people. In my work there are reflections of home, family and the potentiality of a space to present layers of collective experience and meaning. My work is an exploration of identity as an exploration of materials. The skin on my figures acts as a membrane between perceived outer and inner worlds. The work suggests that identity should be self-determined and understood, and contextualized through connection with others. I employ mixed media to explore concepts of representation, perception, identity creation, globalization. My installation work explores the past as a point of departure to inform this moment, through which The work imagines new futures. My multimedia work reimagines relationships with the body as avatar, social space and the invisible world.