A towering, illuminated sculpture of a nude woman, one of a series of three created for Burning Man by artist Marco Cochrane in the last decade, is set to make an appearance in SF's Union Square, pending final approvals.

The 48-foot sculpture, titled R-Evolution, made its debut on the playa in 2015, and it depicts a woman standing, perhaps moving to walk forward, with arms at her sides, palms out, and head up. It was the third in a series of these monumental female figures that Cochrane built for Burning Man, the first being Bliss Dance, which debuted at Burning Man 2010; and the second being Truth Is Beauty, a figure of a women reaching up with outstretched arms, which debuted in 2013.

The trilogy is known as "The Bliss Project."

Bliss Dance spent some time on Treasure Island from 2011 to 2015, but now has a permanent home on the Las Vegas Strip. And the 55-foot-tall Truth Is Beauty ended up installed in a plaza next to the San Leandro BART station in 2016.

Now, as the Chronicle reports, R-Evolution may be arriving soon for a temporary stay in Union Square, pending approvals by the SF Arts Commission and the Rec & Park Commission. The proposal is for a three-month stay, beginning in February 2025, and the the Arts Commission's Visual Arts Committee just signed off on it last week.

The sculpture's three-foot base would as it was at Burning Man, be climbable and accessible to the public for photos with the giant figure's feet. It would go in next to the giant column with the Greek goddess Nike atop it, known as the Dewey Monument, and about where the Union Square Christmas Tree will stand during the holiday season.

Arts Commissioner and visual art specialist Mahsa Hakimi spoke during the committee meeting last week, per the Chronicle, saying that the metal mesh sculpture, which will be illuminated from within at night, could become an attraction on its own. "It’s a massive nude woman in Union Square, the most touristy location. It will bring a lot of people," Hakimi said.

And Coma Te, the Arts Commission’s director of communications, gave a statement to the Chronicle, saying, "San Francisco has always been a city of larger-than-life personalities, ideas and artistic expression. We hope this temporary installation will attract visitors to explore our vibrant downtown core."

R-Evolution had been proposed for Union Square a number of months ago, but Cochrane ended up leasing it to another location in Miami, where it resided until May. It is currently available for sale or lease, according to his website.

Cochrane, who was born to American artists in Venice and raised in Berkeley, has said that the series is about empowering women, and depicting the female figure as more than a body to be looked at.

"As my hippie parents taught me, if you follow your bliss, doors will open where you never knew they existed," Cochrane says of his work. "As a result, my work celebrates people of all kinds and cultures, reminding us that we are all one family, if not one human being."

Cochrane's last monumental piece for Burning Man, the reclining female figure called Gaia, was intended to debut on the playa in 2020, but made its debut in 2022.

Photo by Trey Ratcliff via MarcoCochrane.com