Rod Lathim’s fingerprints are all over town. The Big Yellow House’s wine cellar, an icon of Summerland, was the site of his first spiritual awakening. The legacy of his award-winning Access Theatre resides in modern day organizations like Grace Fisher Foundation’s Inclusive Clubhouse. And his exploration into fine art has been seen scattered around the city at places like Helena Mason Gallery, GreySpace, Voice Gallery, and others.
On February 5, Lathim will unveil his largest solo exhibition to date at Art & Soul Gallery. LIT: Love, Illumination, Transcendence will debut 30 pieces that evolve around his work exploring neon, deconstruction, and assemblage.
On a cloudy afternoon, I stepped into Lathim’s world — if only for a moment. It was an extraordinary experience to visit both his home and studio in person. For most locals, Lathim is a known figure — associated with the stage. But a few years ago, he started “downloading” (his term) images of neon art from his spiritual muses. At first, he assumed they had the wrong guy. But when the images wouldn’t stop, he reconsidered the messages — and discovered that neon was the perfect medium for him.