Burnin'Instructors

Christina Sporrong

1992 Bachelor of Fine Art, Parsons School of Design, New York
1990 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island

Christina was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1969, and spent the first half of her life living in Europe and Asia. She graduated from the American School in Paris, France, and moved to the United States to pursue a career in the arts. While in New York she met sculptor Linus Coraggio who showed her how to work in steel. Learning how to weld and forge completely changed her focus from editorial illustration and photography to sculpture. After graduating from Parsons in 1992 she moved to Seattle and enrolled in an independent study program in steel sculpture at Pratt Fine Arts. At that time her work became multi-dimensional, combining paint, photography, glass, fabric, and steel.In 1996 she moved to Taos, New Mexico and decided to open her own metal shop. Spitfire Forge was born, and became her business venture. To demystify metal and empower other women with this medium she started teaching Women's Welding Workshops in New Mexico that same year, then nationally in 2000.

Flynn Mauthe

Flynn was born in east Texas in the town of Marshall in 1960. He is a great coordinator of people and things and has worked with cutting edge groups such as Survival Research Labs as Production Manager, Seemen, and the Burning Man Art Festival as Operations Director. He has studied blacksmithing, metal fabrication, and flamenco guitar. In a past life he was a guitar and bass player in several punk rock bands.

Kleedos

Lisa Nigro

1994 MFA Sculpture, University of Texas at Austin
1990 Artist in Residence, Vermont Studio Center
1985 BFA Painting, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Lisa was born in Milford, Connecticut, USA in 1962. She is an interdisciplinary, multi-media artist working in sculpture and interactive installation art. After obtaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting in 1985, Lisa went on to study sculpture at UT Austin. While utilizing foundry methods for casting bronze, and techniques in brazing, plaster casting, and mold making, she began creating walk through installations. After receiving her Masters degree in 1994, Lisa moved on to building large-scale outdoor installation works in the Nevada desert. 1999 marked a major transition in her artistic career with the creation of the larger than life sundial, Diana of Ephesus. This piece then led to her creation of the mobile installation Draka the Dragon in 2000 and Dahud-Ahes the Mermaid in 2002. Inspired by mythology, gender politics, and pop culture, Lisa’s work subversively addresses the problematics of a patriarchal structures and challenges modern culture’s attitudes toward mythological story. What is most impressive about Lisa is her ability to inspire others to utilize their own often times suppressed creative talents. What is unique to her work is its quality of interactivity, which is two-fold, formed within the actual process with the people she works with and also present in the resulting end product. Lisa’s competence in metal fabrication, sculpting, and interior design prevail within this freer experience for art appreciation, as does her ability to instruct apprentice/volunteers in the making of such expansive works.

Artcarspyrotechnicsmetalworkingkilnbuilding

HOME