Storytelling Through Art: April Werle on Cultural Identity and Artistic Practice
In this article, April Werle shares insights about her art and career so far. Growing up in Montana in a Filipino immigrant family, April turned to storytelling through painting, capturing the nuances of mixed-race experiences and cultural dichotomies. Her latest exhibition, "Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple," reflects her personal narrative and the shared stories within her community. Operating from her basement studio, April has navigated the challenges of selling art online, finding a significant audience in California, where her themes resonate deeply. Participating in The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles, she learned valuable lessons about connection and the appeal of her work. Balancing the demands of art and business, April emphasizes the importance of celebrating small victories and staying present, offering poignant advice to fellow artists: cherish the moments and the people around you.
April Werle, in her basement studio in Montana.
April, could you tell us about your art practice?
My mother immigrated to Montana in the 90’s from the Philippines after having an arranged marriage with my father. I grew up in a small Filipino community in a very homogenous town.
I use my painting practice to make sense of my upbringing by telling visual stories that explore central themes of mixed-race identity and belonging.
I am currently working on a new solo show, Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple, which opens in Denver, CO this spring.
I am really excited about this exhibition which explores how multicultural couples share and negotiate the culture within their home. I witnessed this with my parents and other parents in the community. I never thought—because I grew up here—that I would also have to navigate this one day.
There is something cathartic about sharing both the funny and sweet moments with the moments of conflict. While I am sketching hand-characters upset with one another, I find the visuals silly, which makes me feel lighter about each scenario.
“I am a painter today because visual art was the most effective way for me to express stories to others.”
Growing up, I was always fascinated by the art of storytelling—it didn’t matter whether it was oral storytelling, a book, a movie, a performance, a painting. I couldn't get enough of the stories. I loved jumping into someone else’s shoes and exploring the world through their unique lens.
I was definitely a latchkey kid, and stories—experiencing others’ perspectives—helped me understand the world outside of my home. Growing up in an immigrant home, stories helped me understand the mainstream culture outside of my own family and cultural community.
Where are you from-from (2023) April Werle
How are you finding balancing your art practice and art business?
Balancing the art making while finding money to sustain yourself is literally the toughest part of having an art practice.
My practice definitely goes through seasons. These are centered around a solo show. My studio balance is completely dictated by where I am in the process of a show.
In the beginning stages I am writing, making thumbnails, assigning titles and sizes. I need more time to marinate in the planning phase, so I spend a lot of time simultaneously marketing, researching grants, writing exhibition proposals, etc.
In the last 8-12 weeks before a show, I am usually in crunch mode—painting 10-14 hours a day and barely coming out of my studio to sleep, eat, and shower. During those weeks, I barely work on any of the business side of my practice.
I love the crunch period because I feel like I’m doing what I am supposed to be doing. It’s a beautiful emotional period where I am completely immersed in the themes of the work and visuals of the paintings. I am also feeling the rewards of developing my technique. On an aside—I listened to ALL seasons of Modern Family during the last crunch phase, Modern Family is brilliant.
“Balancing the art making while finding money to sustain yourself is literally the toughest part of having an art practice.”
I don’t love the anxiety that comes with this phase though, and every next show I try to start painting earlier.
I find balance is by blocking out calendar times in my Google Calendar and doing my best not to schedule meetings during those hours. I honestly don’t usually adhere to those studio blocks, but it helps me prioritize the time.
I also have recently started a task whiteboard for my painting process. I get a hit of dopamine everytime I cross off tasks like: stain panel 1, take hand references for panel 2, etc.
Could you tell me about your studio and where you create?
My studio is in my basement—haha! It is literally like going into a deep dark cave which is a struggle in the beautiful summer months in Montana. Luckily I have these great softbox studio lights. I also have plant bulbs for overheads to help my studio plants. I think the larger light spectrum from the plant bulbs mimics the sun and helps prevent depression from working in the basement.
What is really fun is that my partner’s music studio is in our basement too. It has become a party trick to bring guests downstairs to see the studios.
How do you normally sell your work?
I almost exclusively sell my work through my website. It is really challenging to sell work in the local Montana market as an artist outside of Western Art. Saying my work isn’t ‘western’ though confuses me, because I’m telling stories about my experience growing up in the west. However, this has really pushed me online.
An overwhelming majority of my works are purchased by residents of California. I attribute this to the bustling Filipino American communities and rich cultural history there. A lot of discourse on cultural identity and minority experiences is coming from California, so I feel that my work resonates more there.
April Werle at The Other Art Fair Los Angeles
You recently exhibited at The Other Art Fair Los Angeles. Could you share some of the lessons you learned from your experience there?
I exhibited at The Other Art Fair Los Angeles because I wanted to build more connections in California.
Over the last couple of years I’ve made many connections with Filipinos in LA and I was excited to meet them in person; and because most of my sales are from California, I wanted to begin making connections in the visual art scene there.
My goal is to have a solo show in the heart of a large Filipino community. I think that I would learn a lot about myself, my community in Montana, and my context to the larger Filipino diaspora from doing this.
And of course, I went to The Other Art Fair to sell my work.
There were a lot of logistical snafus that I learned along the way like if you drop off paintings on a Saturday, the weekend doesn’t count towards 2-day shipping. You also can’t schedule a UPS pickup the night before—I had a flight in the morning and luckily my booth neighbor was incredibly kind and offered to take all four of my large packages to UPS for me.
I also learned that every authentic connection counts, and having genuine conversations with people during a time when you are being vulnerable is a really heartwarming experience. For me this fuels inspiration.
However, the most notable thing I learned from this experience was that my work resonated with people outside of the Filipino community. I think this is just my insecurities talking—but sometimes it feels like the art community in Montana is more impressed with my CV than my work. It was incredibly validating to have so many strangers connect with my work, understand, and relate to it.
That was so refreshing. And when I came back to Montana, I found myself missing and craving that feeling—the feeling of deep human connection that comes from understanding one another, or having a shared experience.
There are many reasons why I want to stay in Montana, but I am currently researching and building more connections in California to have a solo show and participate in a residency there.
What are some of the big 'ah-ha' moments you've had in your art career?
The biggest ah-ha moment was in 2020. This is when I felt like I finally found my voice.
I think I was getting there in art school, but felt like critiques were really discouraging. My BFA thesis was when I first started exploring being biracial in my art practice. I felt like I didn’t have the words: generational trauma, internalized racism, invisible minority, and invisible majority to describe the things that I had been experiencing.
In 2020, with the very public murder of George Floyd, this vocabulary became widely introduced to places like Montana. Communities like the one I live in—although very homogenous—were stepping up and finding ways to make people feel safer. I was commissioned to paint a mural as part of a BIPOC mural series called Feeling Welcome.
The experience of painting that mural and the warm messages I received from other mixed Filipino kids made me realize that it was time to come back to the themes I had been exploring in college. That was when I found direction in my art practice.
What is exciting you about the New Year? Could you tell me about your plans for 2024?
I am excited for the new year, specifically to put in practice what I learned from 2023.
When I think back on 2023, I can see how much my studio practice has grown and how much I’ve grown as a person with it. However, during most of the year, I felt like I was in a constant state of turmoil.
I realized the issue was that I wasn’t celebrating my small wins. As soon as something great happened, I was already on to the next thing. I felt like I really embodied the quote “grow or die”. This had been absolutely horrible for my mental health and personal relationships.
Yes, I did grow quite a bit. But when I look back at the past year it is literally all a blur. I did go on some really great trips like Art Fair Philippines and The Other Art Fair LA. But everything between that is distinctly my studio and the couch. Ha!
For 2024, my plan is to take time in all of the small wins. I want to really feel them and be present in them. I look forward to spending more time with loved ones and friends, meeting new people, and having real heart-to-heart connections with more people. I think we all need positivity and hope right now. I look forward to sharing more of that.
As I continue and finish my show Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple, I look forward to further exploring the beauty of sharing culture and reducing the stigma around the hidden conflicts that happen within multicultural couples.
I think there is a lot we can learn from people that exist in-between cultures, who’s very identities are a constant navigation and negotiation of conflicting sides.
April, what is the biggest piece of advice you would like to share with other artists?
The biggest piece of advice I have for other artists is to celebrate all of the wins, no matter how small they seem.
I love to rest on the couch with my cat Mochi to celebrate. Other times it's getting a drink or going out to dinner.
I saw a great video that explained that no matter how great a person or great their achievements, everyone will end up in the ground someday. And the ground does not remember your accomplishments.
“Celebrate all of the wins, no matter how small they seem”
That really made me think about my time—which we never really know how long it is—and that I want to spend it happy, being present, and fully experiencing the company around me.
Of course, I hope that I will have a legacy to leave, but if not I’ll be content knowing that I really noticed the sun rays dancing on the kitchen counter, or noticed the way that someone giggling to themselves in an ecstatic way also made me giggle.
Want to find out more about April Werle’s art and business?
Website: https://www.aprilwerle.com/
Instagram: @aprilwerle
Are you ready to create a full-time career as an artist?
I love April’s journey as as artist so far, from both a creative and a business perspective. I especially appreciate how she discovered a group of her Ideal Art Buyers in the Filipino diaspora, plus how she is pro-actively navigating her professional career to build on her success in California.
The Full Time Artist Formula online course provides you with the roadmap to transition from a part-time artist to a full-time professional. Created after researching over 300 global artists on how they developed financially rewarding art careers, this online course is perfect for fine arts graduates like April. It will take you from wondering what to do next to having a clear success plan.