Flaming Lotus Girls

The group began in 2000 with several women and men who wanted to teach and gain the fabrication and design experience needed to create large sculptural installations. Early participants included people involved with or influenced by Bay Area art groups and spaces including Survival Research Laboratories, The Crucible, and CELLspace. The Flaming Lotus Girls were featured in Dust & Illusions (2009), a documentary about the history of Burning Man. Pouneh Mortazavi, Rebecca Anders, Rosa Anna DeFilippis, Caroline Miller, Charlie Gadeken and James Stauffer were the Flaming Lotus Girls members interviewed for the film. The footage features their Serpent Mother sculpture. == Art ==

Early 2000s Created for the 2000 Burning Man Festival, "Flaming Lotus Sr." was a sculptural flame thrower. Created in 2004, "The Seven Sisters" was a collection of seven sculptures approximately in height, representing the stars of the Pleiades constellation. The Angel's wings burn continuously with ambient flame, and each feather features audience-controlled fire effects. and at an event in Vallejo in 2025. The Serpent Mother (2006) The Serpent Mother is a sculpture of a skeletal serpent coiled around her egg. Serpent Mother has appeared at Electric Daisy Carnival and Coachella in 2012 and Burning Man. In 2017, Serpent Mother was featured at Beakerhead in Calgary. In 2018, Serpent Mother was featured at the White Night Festival in Melbourne, Australia. Mutopia (2008) Mutopia is a spiraling sculpture of "seedpods," laid out according to the Golden Ratio, a proportion found throughout art and nature. This sculpture was also displayed at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2011. Soma (2009) Soma is a stainless steel neuron that illustrates flowing electricity through crowd-controlled LED light patterns that shoot along its dendrites and axon. Soma appeared at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2013. In 2014 it was installed at Pier 14 along the Embarcadero on the San Francisco waterfront for one year, adapted to light up with LED lights instead of the original balls of fire. In 2016 it moved to Vallejo, California as a public art installation for two years, as part of an effort to draw visitors to the city's downtown and waterfront areas. Tympani Lambada (2011) Tympani Lambada is a sculptural representation of the inner ear, with interactive controls for its flames and LED lights. The sculpture is approximately 80 by 40 feet and weighs 20,000-25,000 pounds. The planning and construction of the sculpture involved building large trusses out of pipes that carry propane, linked with 140 joints. The outer steel structure mimics the intricate vasculature and predominant veins and arteries. Above the heart chambers, the aortic arch shoots pulses of fire into the night sky. The sculpture was displayed at the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco in 2016 as part of an event promoting a Flaming Lotus Girls photo calendar. Serenity (2019) Serenity is a 2019 Black Rock City Honoraria project. It features a group of three giant fireflies, and many smaller fireflies, escaping the pieces of a large broken jar. Serenity is sculpted in steel and features interactive flame and LED effects at night. It debuted at Burning Man in August 2019. Sea of Dreams (2022) Sea of Dreams is a 2022 Black Rock City Honoraria project. Sea of Dreams is an immersive sculptural landscape featuring origami boats bound for a magical island of fiery plants and mystical origami cranes. Mutopia Evolution (2023) Mutopia Evolution was an art installation at Burning Man in 2023. == References ==