The Transformation of Lady Luminara

thingiverse

This miniature sculpture was unearthed at a Kickapoo burial site, marking the sole instance of an archeological sacred relic found in the Americas with distinctly Asian features. In 1897, after its excavation, it came into the private collection of June Barbarecht, a theosophist and long-term partner to James J Hill, railroad tycoon. According to art historians, the figure of a woman depicted in the sculpture is widely believed to be Lady Luminara, a legendary figure from the history of Zhenla Kingdom dating back to around 621–565 B.C.. Known for her tragic fate, her death by self-inflicted injury due to shame from rape by The Hungayo ultimately triggered The Great Rebellion of 568BC. This moment was frequently depicted in prints and paintings, but rarely shown through sculpture until this particular work came into being. As a testament to its abstraction level, the piece perfectly encapsulates the transcendent power at play when leaving behind material life and moving towards spiritual realms—a level unseen before during that period in both Orient or America's sculptural traditions. I created five sculptures as part of Miniature Hybrid Met Museum, including this piece, with one being sourced from a thingiverse download, combining several objects using Tinkercad https://tinkercad.com/things/dbiDJzMtmXz, followed by repairing it using online software Netfabb at https://modelrepair.azurewebsites.net/, then finally printing the miniature sculpture.