Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden announced today that Burning Man artist Kate Raudenbush will premiere her new exhibit “Incanto: An Oasis of Lyrical Sculpture” at the Garden in 2023. In collaboration with poet Sha Michele, the exhibit will feature five monumental sculptures and will run from April 28 through Oct. 29, 2023, according to a release.
According to Lewis Ginter’s website, Raudenbush is “an award-winning sculpture artist who emerged out of the creative vanguard of Burning Man to exhibit her work widely in the U.S. and internationally at art fairs, civic squares, arts festivals, galleries and museums.” While poet Sha Michele has experience as “a former actress and designer in Los Angeles, working with Spike Lee, Jamie Foxx and Gita Salem, in addition to her talent as an internationally exhibited designer of exotic, nature-inspired, totemic jewelry.”
The release notes that this was a “collaborative effort born out of the legendary Burning Man community,” and it will offer a “quest for self-inquiry inside the Garden’s peaceful oasis.” The artists’ friendship started in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada at Burning Man in 2000.
The artists, who both currently live in New York City, are designing the experience with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in mind and the Garden will share the work in progress “with exclusive content” in the months before the show’s debut. People are invited to follow the journey through the Garden’s social media accounts @LewisGinter; learn more at bit.ly/INCANTOLGBG
Per the site, the five monumental sculptures “will explore profound concepts of identity and the higher self, the energy of ancestry, the transformational present moment, the perspective of the past, and finally, the balance between technology and the source code of our Earth.”
You can read more details about the art below:
Intricately and beautifully designed from a range of laser-cut, mixed metals such as weathered steel; mirror-polished, hammered stainless steel; and patinated bronze, most sculptures will invite visitors to step inside. With heights reaching up to seventeen feet, they will serve as portals to other worlds of thought, meaning, and healing.
Each piece is being created in dialogue with the landscape to embrace companion plantings and water features developed in collaboration with the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Horticulture team. Dramatically lit from within and paired with poetry, the art will create multi-sensory experiences inviting further exploration at night. As a result, the Garden will offer many related events, classes, and even extended hours on select evenings.
