A former professor and program coordinator at Algonquin College, Zander began woodturning in 2000. His lace detailing came to realization in 2003 after attending a wood turning conference by Binh Pho. Zander has gone on to participate in numerous exhibitions and has won many awards including the Ontario Crafts Council Award for Excellence in 2012. His work has been collected by the Carnegie Museum of Art, The Contemporary Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, among others.
Woodturned vase from Zander, “Lace Ruffles” showcases remarkable materiality through its thinly registered walls — the vessel’s exterior surface capturing the grain and hidden sculptural detail in full depth and breadth across its sloping facade. The impression of lace upon the rim seems at odds with such attention paid to this kind of innate material truth, but Zander presses for an elucidatory showcase of skill — carefully reducing the friction between reality and fantasy until the two combine.