April D. Felipe

Summer Resident Artist, 2017
Hometown: Queens, New York

April D. Felipe explores the ways in which people choose to present the various layers of their past to validate their identity within or among groups. To do so, she blends two visual lines of inquiry:  the color and patterns found in historical Caribbean floor tiles, themselves a synthesis of European Imperialism and African imagery; and the story of The Ugly Duckling, a classic tale of identity and belonging. Through layering these sources, she investigates the constructed nature of the past and one’s desire for belonging.

April earned her MFA in ceramics from Ohio University, in 2010, and her BFA in ceramics from Alfred University in New York, in 2003. She has taught at Ohio State University and Ohio University. She currently teaches in the Dairy Barn Arts Center’s outreach programs in southeastern Ohio, while maintaining a home studio. She joins the Bray as a 2017 Windgate Scholar.

To view more work by April visit her website at aprildfelipe.com.