Serpent Mother

The Serpent Mother is a 168-foot sculptural representation of a skeletal serpent that is coiled around her egg. She is made of stainless steel, mild steel, copper and aluminium. Her spine has a line of fire bursting from each vertebrae and her fangs glow hot and blue. She thrashes her head about as her copper egg slowly cracks to reveal sinuous blue flames. It opens further and exposes its inner yellow flames. FInally, the egg bursts into colored flames ranging from red to blue, shooting upto 15-feet in the air.

The bursts of propane emanating from her spine and her head movements are participant controlled. The liquid fuel that shoots out of her egg are part of a cleverly maneuvered performance created fresh every night to please the crowd. And she definitely knows how to do that!

This was my first sculptural foray in creating a very large physical object from a vision in my mind's eye. I had never made anything like this before. Since I was proficient at drawing, I was asked to draw the head of the Serpent Mother for our proposal to Burning Man in January 2006. What came out after four days and nights of drawing was something I never anticipated. Everyone in the group loved it and said that this is exactly what they wanted the head of the Serpent to look like and that I should make it!

I was very excited that the group liked the drawing, but the real question was: How was I ever going to make a monstrous thing like that when I had never sculptued anything that large before, much less out of metal? The answer was: With enough Flaming Lotus Girl Power, you can make anything. The team is where it's at.

I experienced true community and family working on this project with the Flaming Lotus Girls. We worked for 9 months together on this project, which is not that much time mind you for something this monumental, spending upwards of at least 90 hours a week at times. We laughed, cried, fought and were ultimately triumphant together. All the things that make fast and lasting friendships.

I learned an incredible amount during that time. I learned how to weld aluminium, make a giant Serpent head from scratch, the logistics of creating and managing such a large project, how to make a budget stretch, how to drill many many holes, how to plumb 52 Serpent teeth so they glow blue and how to install lasers for the eyes...These are only a few of the things I remember. And of course, how to load and unload and load and unload the Serpent Mother and all her parts.

However, the true reward was when we took it to the desert and let people play with it. The joy on people's faces made all the sleepless nights, tears and frustraiton totally worth it.

Now, three years later, people still remember the piece and often ask me when it will be shown next. Our intention with this piece is to show it in as many places as we possibly can. We have already taken it to Holland, Oakland and Palm Springs.