April Flanders (Boone, NC) holds a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Spanish from FloridaStateUniversity, Tallahassee, FL. She earned her MFA in printmaking from ArizonaStateUniversity, Phoenix, AZ. She has held one-person shows at galleries in Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Delaware, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri. Her work has been featured in group shows at museums and galleries nationally and internationally. These include the Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Nova Scotia, Canada and the JanetTurnerPrintMuseum at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Chico, CA. She currently teaches at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. www.aprilflanders.com
Statement
We have an ongoing fascination with the exotic that has manifested throughout history. Chosen for their exotic beauty, non-native plants and animals regularly escape their confines. These exotics often thrive and ultimately take over, becoming invasive, choking out native forest plants and animals and undermining natural ecosystems. The result is a globalized landscape that means an inexorable death for native species. Any system is interconnected; small changes have huge impact. Within the system that connects humans to nature, we become the vehicle for the destruction of balance. While non-native plants and animals provide a unique beauty, the natural controls that would normally keep them in check are missing. The result is an imbalance in the delicate equilibrium of our ecosystems. My work addresses the issue of native versus invasive animal and botanical species in the using a variety of media including printmaking, painting, drawing and installation. Relying on the visual language of seduction, I create work where viewers are confronted by their own attraction to the beauty of an ultimately destructive organism. Using pattern, repetition and layered color I seduce the viewer, luring them into a garden of exotics.