Temple of Memory
Mimi Bardagjy’s 100 Porcelain Goddesses
OPENING RECEPTION: March 28, 7-10pm
ON VIEW: March 28 – April 18, 2026
Mimi Bardagjy’s solo exhibition, Temple of Memory: The 100 Goddess Project, presents multi-scale porcelain sculptures depicting goddess figures. In the wake of losing her mother, shortly after her 100th birthday, Mimi moved through her grief by initiating this series as a tribute to her mother’s spirit.
Quote from the artist:
“I conceived The 100 Goddess Project as a way to work through my grief when my mother passed away, a few weeks after her 100th birthday. I knew the journey back to myself was through my work, and I needed a project to pull me into my studio. For as long as I’ve been working in clay, I’ve been enchanted and inspired by goddess figures (especially Cycladic goddesses and Ana Mendieta’s body art), absorbing their forms and their energy whenever I encounter them in museums’ sacred spaces. However, I never made goddesses of my own. Perhaps I hadn’t reached the point where I could claim the power to make them mine. With the loss of my mother, I felt a shift—as though she had given me permission to act on my dream. Guided by her memory and decades of images, I invoked my mother’s spirit to make 100 porcelain goddesses to honor her 100 years.
As I worked through time and grief the goddesses evolved, developing into related series. The pocket goddesses were born as gestural figures, quick to form, tactile, talismanic. The larger ones were more challenging—porcelain has only so much patience for manipulation. Working towards my100th goddess, I discovered how to make them ever thinner, almost ethereal, visually complete, sculptural.
I expected to finish my project in six months. My optimism was jolted by the constant waxing and waning of my grief. I also believe that in some way, to finish the 100 meant acknowledging that my mother was really gone. Making 100 goddesses took me two years. And rather than sadness I was elated that I had completed my challenge, honored my mother, and kept her with me. I know she would be proud of me, as she was always, and that she would love all the goddesses evoking her presence. The goddesses whisper in a language from another time, perhaps one out of time.”
—Mimi Bardagjy
Mimi Bardagjy’s Goddess (1 of 100)