Gherdai Hassell graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2013. Her mixed media artwork celebrates the black female figure. Exploring ideas about representation, perception, identity creation, and childhood, her vibrant collages capture and collect the gaze. The eyes of her figures are an access for viewers and also a veil or protection, a safe space for the women to exist.

Her artwork is on permanent display in the Government Administration Building, Hamilton, Bermuda. In 2019, she was showcased in Tina Lawson’s Annual Wearable Art Gala, Los Angeles, CA. She has presented her work in solo and group exhibitions in Bermuda, USA and China. Gherdai is currently an MFA candidate at the China Academy of Art. She is based between the UK, Bermuda and China.

Statement

My work suggests that identity should be self-determined and understood. My work explores concepts of representation, perception, identity creation, and childhood themes. The collages are avatars, an exploration of self, as an exploration of various materials. My work is a reflection of who I show up as in the world, a black woman. The desire to story tell is at the core of my work. The black woman’s story, a story of play, revelation, revolution, imagination, evolution, self reflection, passion. A human story.

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