“Rodgers’ 2003 Art in the Park submission grew out of her remembrance of a small abandoned house, isolated in a field. it had no obvious doors, no ways to get in or out. Rodgers’ abstracted version of that house is a three dimensional rectangle, with 8-foot sides and a pitched roof, floating on 4 thin legs, 12 feet off the ground. A frame of aluminum tubing defines the shape. The piece can be seen through, and walked around, but not entered or reached. her title for it, ‘Shelter,’ is an ironic turn of the screw. ”

“Susan Rodgers’ ‘Dream House’ makes its own statement about culture and man’s condition. Earlier, I have discussed the formal virtues of this work. But seeing a house at the edge of the sea recalls certain contrasts that preoccupy man’s existence... Good art almost always have reverberations beyond itself. Those aroused by ‘Dream House’ begin from our basic emotional and cultural lives.”

“Susan Rodgers’ Sea Grass walks away with the show. Her piece is constructed of steel reinforcing bar and aluminum tubing. She welded a large grid of the re-bar and from the intersections rise aluminum tubes, 24’ high. The tubes, fastened only at the ground, are allowed to sway in the wind. The effect is hypnotic and the introduction of motion to her work is a logical progression from her wall pieces that shimmer with the illusion of movement. ”

“Rodgers’ art demonstrates the continuing vitality of modernism. The work has the spare elegance of that tradition as well as the fun and play that mark some of the older 20th century artists. One thinks of the light gaiety of Calder rather than the dark brooding of Klein or Rothko. While Rodgers continues to experiment with different materials and shapes, there is a consistency in the power appeal of whatever she does. ”

“Rodgers’ modernist aesthetic unites severity of form with imaginative freedom within that form. But, even with that freedom, she restricts herself to a minimalist use of materials. Working with industrial products, that for whatever reason, have lovely colors and unusual forms, she can focus on the arrangement of the material. - its appropriateness, its function as balance, its role as the dominant or auxiliary element in the composition... ‘Summer Fence’ currently on view at Fort Taylor, uses utility pole sheaths as a foil for the wind, a vertical counterpoint to the horizontal site, a color contrast to the sea and sky. ”

“‘Tumbleweeds’ add a splash of color in the middle of the field. The translucency of the yellow plastic makes them a favorite to view at sunset. Wind activates them; you expect them to roll away at any minute! Best seen by Land or Air at any time of day.”

“Rodgers’ signature is to compose industrial materials to create a foil for nature. Her meticulous construction and interpretation of the site, materials, concepts and audience is consistently astonishing. This piece, created for Sculpture Key West, is based on her love of the painter Piet Mondrian’s famous Modernist works. Rodgers works from studios in Key West and Lenox, MA, and is represented in prestigious museums, galleries and private collections throughout the country.”

“‘Red Squares’ is my second outdoor chequerboard. I like the formality of the grid as a foil for nature. And I like the way nature foils the format with shadows, reflections and falling leaves. In this piece I’ve also used plastic rather than metal which allowed me to rise slightly above the horizontal plave and to give ‘shape’ to the squares, which seem more sculptural and at the same time more playful and appropriate to a garden.”