David Rogers: The Man Behind the Bugs

Big Bugs Creator Began His Craft As A Teenager

Having been featured in prestigious newspapers, magazines, and books, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and after showing his David Rogers’ Big Bugs exhibition at arboreta and botanical gardens nationwide, David Rogers has shown what ingenuity and passion can achieve.  Rogers began sculpting at age 13, using his knowledge of welding to sculpt art out of salvaged car parts and scrap material.

Rogers created an ornate bent-sapling construction style called “Victorian Rustic” in 1985, and then used this technique to build garden structures.  Rogers’ love of nature inspired his first large scale branch construction, a dinosaur named “David and Goliath”, in 1990 when he noticed a bent maple sapling.  A forward thinker, Rogers transformed his passion of nature and art into an exhibition encompassing over 40 sculptures with 14 different subjects.

Rogers later used his rustic construction style to create the David Rogers’ Big Bugs exhibition that has toured arboreta and botanical gardens since the mid ‘90s and has been featured at locations such as the U.S. National Arboretum, Disney World Epcot Center, and the New York Botanical Garden. From April 25 through July 20, 2008, the David Rogers’ Big Bugs exhibition at The Morton Arboretum will feature 12 of the bug creations.

Magnified thousands of times their natural size and anatomically correct, David Rogers’ Big Bugs collection represents insects that families can find at their own home or at the Arboretum. The collection strives to raise awareness about the importance of these tiny creatures.

According to Rogers, “These little creatures, which we often take for granted, outnumber us one million to one.  Many live in communal groups working as one for the common good of all.  Their ranks include engineers, soldiers, weightlifters, weavers, hunters, stalkers, gatherers, and even royalty.  When you take this remarkable and diverse group of “hidden gardeners” and recreate them on a gargantuan scale using all-natural materials, you have the Big Bugs.  The effect is a role reversal of dimension and perception.  The sculptures are created using various combinations of whole trees found standing or fallen dead, cut green saplings selectively harvested from the willow family, dry branches, and other forest materials.  The inherent uniqueness of these materials:  their different shapes, colors and textures provide these sculptures with character, definition, and a sense of motion.”

Rogers’ future projects include “Big Flowers” which will focus on pollinators and expand on the educational Big Bugs exhibition.

Media contacts:  Gina Tedesco, 630/725-2103, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Nicholle Heffern, 630/719-5768, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it