My name is Hannah Yata, and I’m an oil painter who has spent years feeling called to create something at Burning Man. The right opportunity finally arrived when I met my partner, Joe Di Marco.

Joe is a master woodworker with six years at Burning Man and four spent helping build the infrastructure of the city itself. As our relationship grew, so did our creative vision. When he discovered a set of 200-year-old Thai temple panels that were calling for a new purpose, everything clicked into place, and Pandora’s Eye was born.

Together we’re building a temple-like structure from these reclaimed sacred panels, filled with my large-scale paintings. The space is an invitation to reflect on the moment of creation, the dance of the Divine Feminine, and our connection to the consciousness that moves through all living things.

We’re living through a moment of profound fracture — politically, ecologically, spiritually — and I believe art that reconnects us to wonder and to each other has never been more necessary. Burning Man is one of the few places where that kind of encounter is truly possible: tens of thousands of people, outside their ordinary lives, open to being moved.

We’ve received partial funding through the Burning Man Honoraria Grant and are now raising what we need to bring this fully to life.

We’re working with a materials-only budget to build the piece itself and are currently about $10,000 short of our total completion budget. Transportation costs have been our biggest challenge. Rising rates have left us roughly $20,000 short of what we need to get the installation to the playa. Every contribution, at any level, makes a real difference.

Your support will help us build the structure, transport the materials, and create a sanctuary on the playa.

This feels bigger than both of us. We hope you’ll be part of it!