Seed of Self
-UPCOMING-
At the western edge of the Panhandle, where the city opens into Golden Gate Park, movement is constant. Cyclists, runners, and neighbors pass through this corridor each day, creating a steady rhythm between urban life and open space. Seed of Self by Kate Raudenbush introduces a moment of pause within that flow.
Seed of Self is a meditation sculpture in the form of a glowing, monumental seed, symbolizing the life force within each of us. Split into two halves—past and future—the artwork invites visitors to sit within the threshold of the present moment. One half reflects the past through a laser-cut brass mandala surrounding a mirrored sphere, encouraging quiet self-awareness within an intimate, acoustic space. The other half gestures toward the future, formed as an open, unfinished frame.
Between them rests a wooden meditation bench, positioning visitors at the edge of what has been and what is yet to come. The sculpture becomes an experience rather than an object, offering a space to inhabit reflection and possibility simultaneously.
As day shifts to night, the work reveals another dimension. A warm, golden interior light illuminates the sculpture from within, extending its presence into the evening and transforming it into a quiet beacon along the Panhandle. This inner glow acts as a metaphor for the human life force—steady, radiant, and always present—inviting reflection not only in stillness, but across all hours of the day.
In a site defined by movement, Seed of Self offers a gentle counterpoint. It does not interrupt the flow, but instead creates an opportunity to slow down within it—holding space for reflection, renewal, and the subtle energy that connects us all.
About the Artist
Kate Raudenbush creates large-scale, immersive environments at the intersection of sculpture and architecture. Working primarily in laser-cut mixed metals, mirror and light, her work explores themes of human evolution, connection, and transformation through experiential, allegorical forms.
Her practice draws inspiration from empowerment rituals, mythology, textiles, and theatrical lighting, though an Art Nouveau-meets-futuristic aesthetic. Welded, intricately cut, engineered structures engage both the physical body and the surrounding environment, transforming public space into shared, immersive experiences that poetically transform with inner light as night falls.
An early career path at MTV, and then as a photographer in the theater and music worlds of New York City and Washington DC inspired a love of set design and saturated, dramatic lighting. Since finding her creative voice as part of the iconoclastic vanguard of artists evolving out of Burning Man since 2004, Kate has piloted an unconventional artistic career internationally: from embarking on a far-flung art residency near the DMZ in South Korea, to the design of a massive winged soundstage in Amsterdam for the Mysteryland festival, and, from designing red carpet sculptures for the AFI Film Festival in Hollywood, to creating a monolithic public gateway sculpture leading to the largest tech park in the USA.
Following an early break in 2007 when Guardian of Eden was collected straight from Black Rock City into the permanent collection of the Nevada Museum of Art, Kate’s immersive sculptures have been shown in both Miami art fairs and civic squares in Montreal, Seoul, Tulum, Lake Tahoe, New York, Washington DC, Santiago and San Fransisco. Her art was featured in 2018’s record-breaking No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man exhibition at the Renwick / Smithsonian Museum. In 2019, she received the National Citizen Artist Award from Americans for the Arts and spoke at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in DC. In 2021, her art was collected at the Boundless Space Burning Man exhibition at Sotheby’s, New York City.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Kate’s most recent sculptures include: Life Force, a memorial for Steven Taylor in San Leandro, CA; Ignis Aqua, a stainless steel tidal wave holding a cloud ceiling of fire effects, in Lido Beach NY; and the public exhibition Incanto: An Oasis of Lyrical Sculpture, a collection of 5 immersive allegorical sculptures commissioned by the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, in Richmond, Virginia.