Creu Hudol

Creu Hudol is a female robot effigy that will be burned along with the Man at Burning Man 2018. I conceived of this project the day I found out about the proposal from a fellow camp mate. My proposal along with the 11 other robot effigies for the Pavilion were given approval for a grant from the Burning Man Foundation on the second week of July...Making the process of creating the robots on a very tight schedule. The Burnbot aritsts were given 44 days from the day of approval to installation date. Not a whole lot of time! But where there is a will, there is a way!

About Creu Hudol:

When I heard about the proposals for the project, I immediately started making renderings on Photoshop. I made eight renderings for the inside panel projects and one for the burnbot. On July 7th I received eight separate emails from the committee about my work not being accepted. Later that day, I got an acceptance email for Creu Hudol.

The first thing that I did when I found out that I was chosen (beside jump for joy), was start researching where to get materials and tools. I knew I didn't have much time and I started ordering things as soon as I could with limited funds. The grant from Burning Man came in about 10 days later and I immediately went to Home Depot to buy more tools. I also went to Reno to the Workworking Source to buy some knives and get advice. The guys there have been very generous with their time and thoughts. I saw all the knives there, saw a small drawknife and didn't even know what it was but knew that I had to have it. It has since been my favorite tool in this process.

I sourced the wood for the arms from our own wood pile of small logs at home. They are Tamarak Pine and were felled about 30 years ago. The bark came off very easily but the wood was very hard to carve. But the results of the wood were a harder finish.

The wood for the legs were sourced from a nearby neighborhood whose forest area was recently thinned. My friend and fellow campmate who lives in that neighborhood called me up to let me know about the logs. The bark was very difficult to remove but the green wood is much easier to carve.

I purchased the crystals through Ali Express from exporters from China. I bought several strands of drilled crystal quartz spears in order to choose from them for the crystal headdress.

The wooden hands are artists model hands purchased through Amazon.

The glass head was found through an antique dealer on ebay. I searched for a few days to find just the right one. These types of heads were used as displays in the 1970's and '80's. Since each glass head is uniquely handcrafted, I searched for just the right look I was looking for.

The feet will be plastic boots (most likely kids ski boots) that will be spray painted silver along with the rest of the piece.

But what does it mean?....

When I was creating the proposal, I knew that I wanted the robot to look female and elegant. I wanted the piece to represent a harmonious future with A.I. Her lines are to be feminine and soft to represent non-harm towards others. The crystals are to represent how crystals in many forms are used in our modern technology and metaphysical uses.

The crystals are very meaningful for me because my grandparents owned gem stores/galleries in the 50's-70's and my parents met in one of their galleries. My grandparents and father made gemstone jewelry and art. Up through the 1990's, my parents continued to use semi-precious gems in their fine art sculptures. When I was a kid, the kids from the neighborhood would come over to look at the crystals at our home that we had collected through the years. So, I wanted to give homage to my family by using crystals throughout the piece and especially the headdress.

The name "Creu Hudol" is Welsh for "Magical Being". I looked up several names in different languages that I admire. I started to think about what my robot means to me. My husband, Kevin, (who was adopted) did a DNA test a few years ago and discovered that his birth father was half Welsh and half Norwegian. So I looked up Welsh and Norwegian words and the Welsh words for "magic" and "being" just struck me and it stuck.

I am honored to be a first-time Art Honorarium recipient at this year's Burning Man.

Please check back often to the "My Progress" page to see photos of the piece as it comes along.

Thank you for visiting and happy Burning Man!

Creu Hudol

Burnbot

Burning Man Pavilion 2018