George Boorujy

And the Plains Opened Up Before Us, ink on paper, 43" x 85", 2009

And the Plains Opened Up Before Us (detail)

Glacier, ink on paper, 38"X50", 2008

Glacier (detail)

Settlement 4 (dammed water), ink on paper, 49"X92", 2007

Settlement 4 (dammed water) (detail)

Ring-billed Gull , ink on paper, 30"X44", 2007

I had to include more than the usual number of images because the details are so important. Surprise often lurks in the details. While the pieces I've selected here are mostly landscapes, much of his work is of animals reflecting an early interest in biology that has stuck faithfully with him. Clearly the natural world is at the center of his interests. Although, as he might point out, what other world is there? Man's role in it is portrayed as a more tenuous thing than one might think looking out from your front windshield on the way to work. But perhaps he's right about that after all. Our grand civilization hasn't been here all that long and may not last all that long either. Who knows? What we can be certain of is that the natural world isn't going anywhere. It is tenacious and full of surprises and Mr. Boorujy revels in that. His depiction of it, and our place in it, is imbued with both a stark solemnity and a wry sense of humor. It is these contradicting implications that beg the viewer to look longer and ponder. Of course the detail doesn't hurt. Most people love to pore over exquisitely rendered realism. So feast your eyes on more of his work at www.georgeboorujy.com.