Statement
April Werle paints tableaus of black-and-white hands acting out quotes from intimate, everyday scenes of her mixed Filipino American family. Her autobiographical work narrates how culture is internalized and negotiated by mixed-race individuals and multicultural families through small, impactful moments. Werle sets scenes with visual metaphors—displacing hands from their roots, combining brown stain and whitewash, and perpetually other-ing her rendered characters from their simplified, colorful, and tactile environments.
Bio
April Werle (b. 1995, USA) is a narrative painter based in Missoula, Montana, whose work explores mixed-race identity, family, and belonging. Her recent solo exhibitions include Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple, Bell Projects, Denver, CO; Halo-Halo: The Mixed Children, ZACC, Missoula, MT; and Mga Hunghong Sa Diwata (Whispers of Spirits), Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Missoula Art Museum and The Other Art Fair Los Angeles. Werle is the recipient of the Emerging Artist Residency at Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington (forthcoming). She was honored with the WESTAF BIPOC Artist Fund Award in 2024, the Montana Arts Council Strategic Investment Grant in 2023, and the Montana Arts Council ARPA Grant in 2022. April Werle has been invited to speak about her work at Montana State University, as the keynote speaker for A.S.I.A.’s 2nd Annual Multicultural Night in 2024. Werle’s work has been published in New Visionary Magazine, Kapwa Magazine, and Mahalaya.
