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.

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.

00:00 — Introduction: Meeting Louise at Chautauqua and the meaning of artistic encounters

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.

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.