Anyone who has watched a dragonfly will see an iridescence glittering in the sunshine. A similar play of light shines off artist David Rogers’ wooden dragonfly as it stands with a 17-foot wingspan at Shangri La Gardens.
The dragonfly is one of 10 giant sculptures of insects on display throughout the gardens starting Saturday through May 28.
Rogers, who will be at Shangri La on Saturday, has been displaying his giant bug sculptures across the country for the past 20 years. It began serendipitously and combines art, carpentry, welding and science.
“Without really trying, I learned a whole lot about insects,” he said Friday.
Shangri La and the Stark Museum of Art, both part of the Stark Foundation venues, are coordinating to celebrate “Big Bugs.”
The museum has a special exhibit “Deconstructed Artistry” about Rogers’ artwork. In addition, the museum has “Buggin’ Out,” the juried student art show on display.
Besides the dragonfly, he has a trio of ants, a praying mantis that is 18 feet long and 20 feet wide, a daddy long legs, an assassin bug, a damselfly, a grasshopper and a spider on a web 12-foot web.
Rogers never set out to be an artist or an insect specialist. He grew up on Long Island, New York. “I literally ran in the woods and I liked to build tree houses. I climbed a lot of trees,” he said.
The natural world fascinated him. “I remember finding an anthill and watching it all day long,” he said.
When he got older, he worked as a carpenter and eventually started making rustic furniture out of willow. Then in the fall of 1990, he was visiting his cousin’s farm in Vermont and his life took a new direction. He “saw” the backbone of dinosaur in a young bent tree. The experience was like people seeing figures in clouds.
Working on the vision, he used saplings to build dinosaurs on the farm. News stories were written about his dinosaurs and someone at the Dallas Arboretum saw an article. They contacted him about the idea of doing giant bug figures that could be displayed a botanical gardens.
Rogers said he received funding to do the insects and started with ants. He knew he had to get the proportions right between the head, thorax and abdomen. Thus began his study of insects. “Their role is much more important than ours” in the natural world, he said.
The first exhibit in Dallas was “a big hit” and the garden world came to him wanting “Big Bugs.” During the first few years, he did carpentry work in the winter months, but now the bugs are his full-time job.
Because of their size, the insects must be taken apart to move. He said they all fit in a 26-foot long straight truck that he drives. Recently, he’s added an assistant to help him with the work because of his back surgery.
The bugs are made of natural materials bent willow, carved red cedar, carved black locust and carved black walnut. They are placed throughout the gardens area for viewing by all visitors with regular admission. Shangri La is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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