Burning Man art headed to Black Rock City from Sparks' Generator

On a Friday night, local artists trickled into The Generator, a sprawling warehouse-style studio space in Sparks, to put the finishing touches on their art ahead of the biggest show of the year.

In spaces rented for about $1.50 per square foot, a number of local artmakers welded, sanded, carved and assembled. A pickup truck crept slowly from one end of the warehouse to the other. A bearded artist on a longboard rolled past, shouting to friends and colleagues.

All this frenetic energy was directed toward one purpose: Burning Man 2023.

The RGJ was granted a sneak peek at some of the local art heading northward to the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man 2023, which officially kicks off on Sunday, August 27. Here's a look at what six artists are making for this year's event.

Heather Lee Dixon, a Reno native and former owner of the quirky gift store Happy Happy Joy Joy, is making her first big piece of Burning Man art this year in the form of an assemblage she's dubbed the "Deer Goddess Confessional."

The piece includes a booth where mortals kneel before the Deer Goddess, which Dixon describes as a "gender and species non-conforming deity," and write down their confessions, which are kept in a lock box and later taken to the Temple to be burned. Dixon assured the RGJ that she does not read the confessions.

"Only the Deer Goddess will know," Dixon said.

Dixon, who goes by the name Daisy Mae and worked on the production team for the film "Jackass 4," became inspired to create art following the death of her husband, who was hit and killed by an ambulance in 2019 while riding his motorcycle in Reno. Though Dixon says she doesn't have formal artistic training, she says creating the artwork has been a cathartic experience.

The recipient of an 2023 Honorarium art grant from Burning Man Arts is Mongolian artist Turburam Sandagdorj, whose metal sculpture "Spirit of the Healing Siren" is a powerful reflection of this year's Burning Man theme of animalia.

The piece is based on the mythological Greek figure of the Siren, a half-human creature whose sweet song lured sailors to destruction. True to the Burning Man spirit, however, Sandagdorj's sculpture calls people to healing. From inside the rotating face of the Siren will play a recording of 100 different species of Mongolian birds.

A collaboration between London artist Andrea Greenlees and local fabricator Andy Tibbetts, “Queen Cobra” stands 25 feet tall and consists mainly of steel tubing with hand-hammered aluminum sheet. The project started in February with the construction of a tool to make the cobra scales, which Tibbetts made using pins left over from another Reno sculpture, "Space Whale."

Asked about the allure of Burning Man, Tibbetts said it was the community that mattered most to him.

“The event is the dessert, but the full meal is working with the people year round to create big art," Tibbetts said.

Ray Frost's sculpture, "My Body, My Home," features Luisa the coyote as its subject. Frost, a first-time lead artist whose vision has been implemented by lead sculptor John Bankhead and lead fabricator Mike Lautman, went to school for screen printing before working on big art.

"There's just something about those pieces which are larger than you," said Frost, who will be attending Burning Man for the second time.

Local jazz musician and radio man Rick Metz has been extensively involved with saxophones and Burning Man for over two decades. Metz attended his first Burning Man in 1999. This year marks his 25th burn.

But it will be the first year that Metz, who regularly performs jazz gigs in and around Reno, will be bringing his own art car -- officially known as a mutant vehicle.

"I've always been involved with mutant vehicles," said Metz, who helped friends navigate the paperwork and regulations for their own cars at Burning Man. "I always longed for one of my own. I've never seen a saxophone mutant vehicle on the playa."

Metz commissioned top mutant vehicle creator Jeff Rocke to fashion Metz's old broken down RV into "Great Sax."

What keeps Metz coming back to Burning Man year after year?

"The art, the music, the people," he said. "That's what keeps the sense of wonderment going."

You might have seen Devin Hall, nicknamed "Bolts," driving his school bus around Reno. It's hard to miss with its spray-painted seascapes and stuffed animals dangling off the sides as he whizzes by.

The 23-year-old Californian bought the old school bus, which has over 300,000 miles on it and runs on diesel, and transformed it into his home. California Highway Patrol said Hall couldn't keep the bus yellow, per regulations, so he bought some spray paint at Walmart to give it a makeover with a pirate theme. Since then, the bus has steadily grown to include a roof deck and a number of other accoutrements to go with that theme. On a Friday evening at The Generator, Hall was thinking about adding a 20-foot mast to the top of the bus.

When Hall isn't working on the bus, he does seasonal work and various art projects.

"I'm doing this as my college," Hall said. "It's been phenomenal."