Flaming Lotus Girls facts for kids

"Soma" sculpture adapted to use LED lights instead of fire, installed in San Francisco as public art, 2015

The Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG) are a group of artists who work together to create amazing, large-scale art. Many of their artworks move and use fire! This group started in 2000 in San Francisco, California. It began with a few people who wanted to learn how to build big sculptures.

Today, the group has over a hundred members, and most of them are women. They are all volunteers. Many of their sculptures let people interact with them. You might be able to control the lights, flames, sounds, or other cool effects! Their art has been shown all over the United States, and also in Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.

Awesome Artworks

Sea of Dreams (2022)

Sea of Dreams is a special art project from 2022. It was created for the famous Burning Man event.

Serenity (2019)

Serenity is another special project for Burning Man from 2019. This artwork shows three giant fireflies, and many smaller ones, flying out of a big broken jar. Serenity is mostly made of steel. At night, it lights up with interactive flames and LED lights. It was first shown at Burning Man in August 2019.

Noetica (2017)

Noetica is actually two sculptures. They are made from 144 stainless steel squares, each with cool patterns carved into them. The bigger sculpture can move using a special power system. You can even control it by moving the smaller sculpture! Noetica was displayed in Black Rock City, Nevada, in 2017.

Pulse (2016)

Pulse is a sculpture of a human heart. It's designed to beat fire through its four parts, just like blood flows through a real heart. The steel outside looks like the veins and arteries of a heart. Above the heart, a part called the aortic arch shoots pulses of fire into the sky! This sculpture was shown in San Francisco in 2016.

Xylophage (2013)

Xylophage is a huge sculpture of a mushroom. It has sound, light, and fire effects, and it looks like it's growing from the remains of a giant tree. Xylophage was shown at Burning Man in 2013.

Tympani Lambada (2011)

Tympani Lambada at Burning Man

Tympani Lambada is a sculpture that looks like the inside of an ear. You can control its flames and LED lights! This sculpture is very big, about 80 feet long and 40 feet wide, and it weighs over 20,000 pounds. To build it, the artists had to create large frames out of pipes that carry propane, all connected with many joints.

Soma (2009)

Soma at the Electric Daisy Carnival

Soma is a sculpture of a neuron, which is a type of cell in your brain. It's made of stainless steel. It shows electricity flowing with LED light patterns that you can control! These lights move along the neuron's parts, called dendrites and axons. Soma was shown at the Electric Daisy Carnival in 2013. Later, in 2014, it was placed on Pier 14 in San Francisco for a year. For this display, it used LED lights instead of its original fire effects. In 2016, it moved to Vallejo, California, as public art for two years to help bring visitors to the city.

Mutopia (2008)

Mutopia methanol shooters, Friday night, Burning Man 2008

Mutopia is a spiraling sculpture made of "seedpods." It's designed using a special pattern called the Golden ratio, which is found in many beautiful things in nature and art. This sculpture was also shown at the Maker Faire Bay Area in 2011.

The Serpent Mother (2006)

The Serpent Mother

The Serpent Mother is a huge sculpture, about 168 feet long! It looks like a skeleton of a serpent wrapped around its egg. This amazing artwork has been shown at many big events, including Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella, and Burning Man. In 2017, it was featured at Beakerhead in Calgary, and in 2018, at the White Night Festival in Melbourne, Australia.

The Angel of the Apocalypse (2005)

The Angel of the Apocalypse at Burning Man 2005

This sculpture looks like an abstract bird rising from the ground. It was first built using steel, driftwood, and fire systems. The Angel's wings have flames that burn all the time, and each feather has "poofer" fire effects that the audience can control!

The Angel's head is made from curved steel and has glass eyes. It stands 20 feet tall and can even be used as a wood-burning fireplace. People were invited to walk around and between the Angel's feathers, and even climb onto its driftwood body. During its first appearance at Burning Man, the driftwood body was burned as part of the show. A new steel body was built later to be shown at a festival in Toronto.

The Seven Sisters (2004)

Electra of the Seven Sisters, morning after the Burn, Burning Man 2004

This is a collection of seven sculptures, each about 15 feet tall. They represent the stars of the Pleiades constellation. The Seven Sisters are named Alcyone, Celano, Maia, Taygeta, Asterope, Merope, and Electra. One of the sisters, Merope, was rebuilt in 2012 using special stainless steel cut with a computer.

The Hand of God (2003)

This is a 12-foot-tall sculpture of a woman's hand made of copper. It can shoot flames from all five fingers!

Mini Mega Jr. (2002)

Fire Fan (2002)

This artwork creates huge plumes of liquid fire that can be controlled by music technology called MIDI.

Fire Island (2002)

This piece features interactive flaming flowers, cacti, and other garden elements.

Flaming Flower Garden (2001)

A garden made of fire, with copper flowers, a lily pond, and a weeping willow tree.

Flaming Lotus Sr. (2000)

This was a sculptural flame thrower. It was created for the 2000 Burning Man Festival.

Film Features

The Flaming Lotus Girls were shown in Dust & Illusions. This is a documentary film about the history of Burning Man. Some members of the Flaming Lotus Girls were interviewed for the film, and it also features footage of their amazing Serpent Mother sculpture.