“CZUZL (St. Petersburg),” left, by Tom Rogers.
Tom Rogers, whose work is on display as the featured artist at Bountiful’s Lamplight Gallery now through the end of the month, is capable of performing an astonishing trick with those little sticks of color. Though his canvases are loose and impressionistic up close, all it takes is a little distance for those thick slashes of color to sharpen and refine themselves into almost photographic detail.
In “Snowy Kingdom,” one of the many new works the artist did from a recent trip to Siberia, what seem to be perfectly executed miniature trees in the distance turn out to be merely scratches of pastel when seen up close. In another work, “Winter Wonderland,” what are merely black smudges up close seem to stretch out and deepen until they become an entire snow-covered canyon.
Even after studying his work, I’m not quite certain how Rodgers does it. It’s like he has some secret agreement going with the human eye, knowing just how to lay down the chaos so that the eye will translate it as fine but distant detail such as the tangle of brambles and bushes by the side of a forest trail or individual blades of yellow grass.
Softer colors, on the other hand, actually smooth and blend together more effectively with the magic few steps back. This effect proves most stunning with water, adding rainbow depths to an otherwise still surface.
The guest artist for the month is photographer Sean Dunshee, Rogers’ grandson who accompanied him on the Siberia trip. In his work, a magical touch reveals itself in the vivid, sun-drenched colors that seem to coat even the most mundane of subjects. In his hands, even a blur of graffiti on a Russian bridge or a dilapidated side street in Samara seem like a rainbow.
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