Trophic Cascade: April Flanders

April Flanders, Didemnum Vexillium 

The web of life under the surface of aquatic ecosystems is exceedingly complex and devastatingly beautiful. In a place where species interactions begin at a microscopic level, small changes have huge impacts and huge changes wreak havoc. Remove a key predator, and prey takes over; add another predator, and the first one declines. With the rise of globalization, human mediated transfer mechanisms give rise to invasive species, overwhelming the delicate balance of aquatic ecosystems. These unintended ecological interventions cause Trophic Cascades, revealing nature’s fragility. 

Invasion biology in marine environments is especially fraught. The eradication or management of invasive species on land, while economically and environmentally challenging, is possible. The successful management of these species underwater is nearly impossible. This exhibition addresses the causes and impacts of marine bio-invaders on a global scale, conferring visibility to species normally unseen. With this work, I create a conversation between art and science, raising awareness around a problem that lacks an easy solution. 

April Flanders

About the Artist

April Flanders is a studio artist living and making in the mountains of Western North Carolina. A keen naturalist, her work has been featured in solo and group shows at museums and galleries nationally and internationally, including the Katzen Museum in Washington, D.C, the Center for the Book Arts, in New York, and the Global Print International, in Douro, Portugal. Recent honors include an online exhibition as a semi-finalist in the 92nd Annual Competition at the Print Center in Philadelphia, PA and a residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Amherst, VA. Recent solo exhibitions include Lost Blooms at Donald H. Lindgren Gallery in Newberg, OR and Unchecked at Artspace in Richmond, VA. Her work is in many public collections, including the Asheville Museum of Science, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Tucson Museum of Art. April holds a Master of Fine Arts from Arizona State University; she has taught printmaking for fourteen years at various universities nationally and internationally. Currently, she is a Professor of Studio Art at Appalachian State University.