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Lighting the Way
Walker Babington's "Burden of the Beast" Rises Again
Walker Babington’s Burden of the Beast—a monumental sculpture originally birthed from the dust of Burning Man—has found a new kind of sanctuary at The Hermitage Museum & Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia. A blend of raw industry and mythic vision, the sculpture evokes a primal pilgrimage. Towering, part steed, part shrine, it speaks to the eternal human impulse to carry, to burn, to become.
And illuminating this sculpture—literally and symbolically—is the glow of a single, one-of-a-kind Bevolo lantern, flickering at the front of the beast like a guiding star, lighting the way.
A Lantern with Legacy
Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights, founded in 1945 in the French Quarter of New Orleans, is no stranger to timeless design. Known for our handcrafted copper lanterns, Bevolo pieces often conjure romance and permanence. Yet here, in Burden of the Beast, the lantern is reborn. Not perched on a wrought iron gate or hanging from a carriage house, but fused onto a mythic, traveling creature forged from reclaimed materials and artistic defiance.
The juxtaposition is stark, stunning, and meaningful.
The flickering Bevolo flame, fueled by fire and Babington's imagination, symbolizes a transformative journey. It lights the path of this great beast, casting shadows and questions across the manicured gardens of the Hermitage.
Talk of the South
When Babington first created Burden of the Beast for Burning Man, it was meant to be moved, experienced, and burned into memory. A hybrid between a mobile altar and a mechanized beast of burden, it drew crowds with its ceremonial energy and post-apocalyptic aesthetic.
Now, at The Hermitage, it becomes something new: a place of pilgrimage - The Burden of the Beast, a bison carrying a house structure on its back, serves as a profound symbol of climate change and rising sea levels. These issues are deeply felt in New Orleans and Norfolk, both of which share the burden of being the most at-risk cities in the U.S. from sea-level rise. Yet amidst the urgency. Babington's piece conveys resilance and hope.
Read more about Babington's "Mammoth Talent" in the June/July Issue of Garden & Gun Magazine & see the exhibition at The Hermitage Museum & Gardens.
On View through October 12, 2025
A nod to journey, to craftsmanship, and to the beauty of change. Together, the lantern and the beast speak of dualities: fire and tradition, permanence and pilgrimage, civilization and wildness, destruction & the reverence of the reclaimed and reimagined.
