Close Quarters at
canzani center gallery

April Flanders: Virulence Theory, 2007

www.aprilflanders.com

Lives in Boone, North Carolina

Teaches at Appalachian State University

Holds a Master’s of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Arizona State University

My work investigates the relationship between what we consume and our collective future by addressing consumerism and its impact on the environment. Over-consumption is devastating the environment and the human spirit. The consumer diet is out of balance with the needs of the environment but we continue to treat consumer goods as if they were vitamins needed for nutrition. Increasingly, we are creating a parasitic relationship with our planet. We need our host for long-term survival, but we are ultimately detrimental to its health.

In contrast to the revulsion that parasites elicit, they are highly evolved organisms dedicated to their tiny environmental niches. They are in fact, critical components of entire ecosystems and most have evolved strategies for keeping themselves in check. Humans represent the parasitic relationship gone awry, as we regularly consume past the point of our own survival.