Art Affects

Ep:24 Art as Healing: Khari Turner on Art, Water as Witness & Black Representation

 
Water is more than a material in this conversation, it is memory, history, resistance, and healing.
In this episode of Art Affects, we sit down with contemporary artist Khari Turner to explore how water becomes a powerful tool for examining Black identity, ancestral memory, and collective healing. Through water and ink, Turner creates visceral works that reflect on the Middle Passage, racial injustice, spirituality, and resilience.
We discuss:
The connection between water and Black history, including the legacy of the Middle Passage
How art can hold generational trauma and joy at the same time
Why Turner isolates features like noses and lips to challenge representation and stereotypes
The spiritual symbolism of water in contemporary Black art
His innovative process of working with water’s natural movement — veins, lightning-like roots, and atmospheric forces
This conversation explores art as healing, art as remembrance, and art as reclamation.
If you’re interested in:Black contemporary art, identity and representation, spiritual symbolism in art, healing through creativity, African diasporic history, or the intersection of art and social justice, this episode is for you.
✨ Subscribe for conversations at the intersection of art, culture, and creative living.💬 Comment below: What does water symbolize for you?🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.
 
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Ep 23: Art & Life: Balancing Creativity and Challenges with Phoebe Hughes

In this episode of Art Affects, artist Phoebe Hughes joins the conversation to reflect on her journey into a full-time artistic practice, shaped deeply by her Bermudian heritage, family roots, and lived experience.
Phoebe speaks candidly about what it means to choose art not just as a passion, but as a way of life, navigating uncertainty, financial realities, and the emotional labour that comes with creative work. She shares how personal history and cultural memory inform her practice, and why staying connected to self, family, and community is essential to sustaining a creative life.
This episode is an honest and grounding reflection on resilience, mental wellbeing, and the courage it takes to keep creating, even when the path isn’t linear or secure.
In this episode, we explore:
Phoebe’s artistic journey and Bermudian heritage
How personal history shapes creative practice
The realities of being a full-time artist
Financial sustainability and honesty in the art world
Mental health, resilience, and self-trust
The importance of family support and grounding
 
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Ep 22: Diaspora to Daoism : Art As Spiritual Practice with Lili Nacht

In this episode of the Art Affects podcast, Gherdai Hassell engages in a profound conversation with artist LiLi Nacht, who reflects on her journey of identity, heritage, and artistic transformation. The discussion explores the role of meditation in her artistic practice, the healing power of art, and the significance of performance in community engagement. LiLi also delves into the complexities of chosen versus inherited identity, emphasizing the importance of cultural heritage and historical narratives in her work. Through her art, LiLi seeks to create a space for reflection and connection, ultimately highlighting the enduring nature of cultural traditions and personal exploration.
 
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visit Lili's website www.lilinacht.com
Work with me! Business Inquiries: studio@gherdaihassell.com
 
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Ep 21: Art as a Portal: Black Liberatory Imagination and Community Building

In this episode, Jessica Valoris shares her journey as an interdisciplinary artist, exploring how her work rooted in Black American and Jewish ancestry serves as a tool for healing, community building, and liberation. She discusses the importance of creative rituals, the intersection of art and wellness, and the role of art in imagining new worlds.
Keywords
Jessica Valoris, interdisciplinary art, healing, community building, liberation, creative rituals, art and wellness
Takeaways
Art is a tool for healing and community building.
Creative rituals shape our world and well-being.
Art can be a portal for transformation.
Jessica's work is rooted in Black American and Jewish ancestry.
Art and wellness are deeply interconnected.
Creative practice is about process, not just product.
Art helps in imagining new worlds and possibilities.
Community and collaboration are central to Jessica's work.
Art can serve as a blueprint for liberation.
Jessica emphasizes the importance of ancestral inspiration.
🎨 Follow jessica Valoris: / @jessicavaloris https://jessicavaloris.com/ Order Jessica's Study Kit How We Be Free is a tool that celebrates and resources the Black radical tradition. It invites people to reclaim local histories of care, justice, and resistance; to create counter-narratives centered in Black joy and interdependence; and to nourish today’s movements for abolition, reparations, climate justice, and collective liberation. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/... 🎨 Follow Gherdai Hassell / Art Affects: / hassell_free / theartaffects https://gherdaihassell.com Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on art, wellness, and creativity. ✿Join my community https://skool.com/the-well-8822
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Ep 20: Reimagining Belonging: Identity, Memory and Material with Louise Mandumbwa

✨ Short Description
In this episode of Art Affects, Gherdai Hassell sits down with artist and educator Louise Mandumbwa to explore how identity, belonging, and memory materialize through creative practice. Together, they trace the threads of migration, care, and imagination that shape the stories artists carry ,and reimagine belonging through material and memory.
🌿 Full Show Notes
In this intimate and layered conversation, Gherdai Hassell and Louise Mandumbwa reflect on how art becomes a vessel for remembering, reimagining, and reclaiming identity. From their meeting at the Chautauqua residency to their shared devotion to storytelling through form, texture, and spirit, they speak on navigating displacement, the politics of representation, and the sacred act of making.
Louise discusses her evolving practice,  how she merges portraiture, memory, and found materials to create new visual languages that honor both the personal and collective. Together, they explore what it means to belong while in motion, how teaching can be a form of care, and how artists transform material into meaning.
This episode is an offering,  a meditation on presence, transformation, and the quiet strength found in returning to the self.
🕰️ Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction: Meeting Louise at Chautauqua and the meaning of artistic encounters06:25 — Louise on origins, migration, and how identity shapes her work14:10 — Material and memory: using found objects and portraiture to tell layered stories22:40 — On education, mentorship, and the emotional labor of artmaking31:00 — The politics of belonging and creating space for multiple narratives40:20 — Art as care, process, and spiritual practice48:00 — Closing reflections: gratitude, connection, and creative evolution
👩🏾‍🎨 Guest Bio
Louise Mandumbwa is a Botswana-born visual artist and educator based in the U.S. Her work explores the intersections of identity, migration, and memory, often through portraiture and material experimentation. Louise has exhibited internationally and is recognized for her nuanced explorations of cultural hybridity, personal history, and belonging.
🎧 About Art Affects
Art Affects, hosted by Gherdai Hassell , is a podcast exploring the connection between art, wellness, and the creative process. Each episode invites artists, thinkers, and makers to reflect on how art shapes who we are and how we live.

Ep 19: Being You is the Secret - How being comes Before Doing

In this episode I cover:
How identity shapes your creative output
The difference between being and doing as an artist
Mindful exercises to reconnect with yourself
Building a sustainable, inspired creative practice
🎨 Whether you’re an artist, writer, musician, or simply someone trying to live more creatively, you belong here. Subscribe for more videos on art, creativity, and living a life that feels true to you.
 
I’m Gherdai, a multidisciplinary artist, host of the Art Affects Podcast, and wellness practitioner. My purpose is to build communty through art.
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E18: How Becoming an Artist Changed my life

In this episode, I relect and explore the transformation that comes from embracing your identity as an artist.We discuss how creativity opens doors to self-discovery, healing, and deeper connection.
Whether you’re just beginning your artistic journey or seeking renewed inspiration, this episode invites you to reflect on how art can change not only what you create but who you are.
Tune in, and let’s take this journey of transformation together.
 
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Welcome Back: A Reintroduction to the Art Affects Podcast

Can you believe its been 5 years y'all!?
Episode Description:In this reintroduction episode, I’m peeling back the layers and bringing you into the heart of Art Affects , where creativity meets healing, and where we explore the deeper meaning behind art and the artist’s journey. I’ll be sharing what’s changed, what’s coming, and why this space still matters more than ever.
Why I Started This Podcast:I’m Gherdai Hassell, a visual artist, creative director, and wellness facilitator, who has spent years exploring  in my own life how creativity can unlock our deepest stories and bring us closer to ourselves. From teaching in China to exhibiting my work in exhibitions globally, I noticed a common thread, art has the power to transform not just the canvas, but our very lives. Art Affects was born from my own desire to build a community where we can learn from each other’s triumphs, struggles, and breakthroughs. This is more than a podcast. it’s a full circle journey back to ourselves through art, conversation, and shared reflection.
Whether you’re a returning listener or brand new to the podcast, this episode is your personal invite to slow down, tune in, and reconnect with yourself through the lens of art, storytelling, and reflection. Let’s reintroduce ourselves, because sometimes, starting fresh is the most powerful thing we can do.
Peace, 
Gherdai 

Episode 17: Musical Vibe Dealing with Buzby

This podcast episode is sponsored by The Catapult Caribbean Artist Showcase Grant. made possible by the American Friends of Jamaica, Fresh Milk Barbados, and Kingdom Creative. Thank you
 
is your neighborhood vibe dealer, who uses music as a medium to invigorate his listeners emotions through a fusion of introspective lyrics & soulful sounds.
Buzby has cemented himself as a reputable architect within Bermuda’s creative culture, making music for roughly 10 years now.
In 2013, he was awarded the Capital G Inspiration Scholarship for artistically talented students. Since then, he has released calculated singles that have been featured in Bermuda’s Top 100 (via Streaming platforms) & has received over 100,000 plays on SoundCloud from all walks of life.
 
He is influenced by musical icons such as OutKast, Anita Baker, Bob Marley, Jay-Z & Sade. 
 
2021 looks to be an impactful year for Buzby as he has released his debut EP “What You Failed to Observe”, available  December 2020.
 
You can listen to his music here:
https://lnk.to/WhatYouFailedtoObserve
 
You can connect with him here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildinthebuzz/?hl=ur
Twitter: https://twitter.com/buildinthebuzz

Episode 16: Art as Showcase with Neal Jhay Morris

This podcast episode is sponsored by The Catapult Caribbean Artist Showcase Grant. made possible by the American Friends of Jamaica, Fresh Milk Barbados, and Kingdom Creative. Thank you 
NealJhay a native artist of Bermuda, has embraced the artistic passion which is his drive to continue his art journey. NealJhay always carried a notebook and pencil case around with him, just in case an idea sparked in his head. After watching so many cartoons and drawing them, tracing them, he branched out to creating his own characters and even naming them. As he went through middle school and high school, his passion for art and creating grew. He attended Bermuda College, graduating with an Associates in Art and Design then continued his journey to Savannah College of Art And Design.
 
Due to unfortunate circumstances, he was unable to complete my studies, causing him to return back to Bermuda. “It was a bitter way for me to return to back home. As devastated as I was, I had to keep it pushing and find new avenues to venture through life!” NealJhay was able to pick up his art when he returned which led him to the Charman Prize Art Competition, hosted by Masterworks.
 
Masterworks awarded him the chance to feature his artwork in Homer’s Cafe which was the beginning of his art journey. This was the birth of his first showcase “Abstractuality.”   
“The amount of love and support I received from the Charman Prize and Abstractuality was enough to keep my motivation going.” The second showcase “Tra Si Efil” which is “Art Is Life” backwards was a collaborative showcase that featured 5 other local artists. 
After hosting two successful showcases, NealJhay continued to create and put a twists on his solo showcases by including models and presenting them to the crowd. “I wanted to showcase my art a little bit different from the usual ‘on the wall, come look at me’ presentation.” The showcases have been well received by the public and continuously grows. “Naked Canvas, Archipelago, No Name No Title were mind-blowing to my friends, family, continued supporters and new supporters.”
Daybreak, the most recent showcase which took place on October 4th, was a showcase that shifted his artwork and showcases to a whole new level. “To see people not only accept my presentation, but to see audience members smiling hard, proud of me, crying tears of joy or even relating to the theme was humbling.”
After closing Daybreak, NealJhay’s mind has been working towards the next showcase and near future plans, including branding. “While I continue on this journey, I will keep experiencing and expressing my emotions into my art, the good and bad. This is not only for me, but for the ones I love and aspiring creatives looking to start their creative journey.”
If you would like to connect with NealJhay you can find him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/nealjhaytheartist