From May 12 to August 17, 2026, the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, in collaboration with the Louisa Arts Center, will present the inaugural group exhibition “The Great Mother’s Dream: Metamorphosis as Power and Wisdom” at Louisa Coffee’s first overseas space in Los Angeles. Curated by Taiwanese curator Vincent Chiang, the exhibition takes Carl Jung's psychological archetype of the “Great Mother” as a theoretical departure point to unfold a contemporary dialogue centered on women.
The exhibition invites four female artists from diverse backgrounds to extend the long-standing implicit connection between myth and nature. It transforms the "serpent" from a cultural symbol into a projection of psychological structure, demonstrating through their works how female power continuously generates and flows through time, space, and the subconscious.
The Archetype of the Great Mother and Metamorphosis
Jung’s concept of archetypes reveals structural imagery that recurs within humanity's collective unconscious. As one of the oldest and most tension-filled archetypes, the "Great Mother" has always been caught in a tug-of-war between nurturing and devouring, protection and control. Her power does not necessarily point to a single value, but rather maintains a primal wholeness amidst contradictions. Within this context, "metamorphosis" is reinterpreted as an ongoing mechanism of power. It concerns not only the transitions between life stages but also the readjustment of relations among the body, identity, and the world.
The visual language of the exhibition originates from the form of the serpent, extending into multiple imageries of nature and the female body. The winding of the serpent resembles the tracks left by time as well as an extension of bodily perception, continuously shifting between the Earth's surface and the subconscious to present a non-linear, cyclical state of existence. This fluidity makes the serpent a vital medium connecting nature, women, and power, while carrying a composite meaning of coexisting creation and danger across different cultures.
Participating Artists and Works
- Ruby Swana (Amis Taiwanese Artist) Starting from bodily perception and natural experience, her creations allow works to slowly generate within the space like life itself. Facolo Serie is not a fixed object, but a continuous process flowing among materials, light, and air. The work presents an unfinished yet constantly changing state, transforming motherhood from an existing symbol into an internally operating generative force.
- Lu Wei (Taiwanese Artist) Using ink wash painting as her creative method, Lu Wei exhibits works in the forms of screens and scrolls to rethink the cultural relationship among the serpent, femininity, and motherhood. Inspired by Chicana feminism and cross-cultural experiences, her work combines religion, mythology, and female bodily writing to explore the historical oppression and creativity of female roles. Her creations extend her life experience as a woman and a mother while responding to contemporary issues of land, identity, and fluidity.
- Alexandra Carter & Heather Beardsley (American Artists) Through a collaboration of fabric dyeing and embroidery, the duo explores how the female body and reproduction are subjected to social regulation. Referencing female mythological figures like Lilith, their work depicts the exact moment of transformation into hybrid forms of plants and animals. Utilizing antique embroidered fabrics, they reconnect with female labor and weaving crafts that have long been excluded from Western art history, further contemplating the relationship between women, the body, and power.
A Generative Field of Perception and Cultural ESG
The exhibition implies that the "Great Mother" is no longer just a shadow of myth, but a structural force still operating in contemporary times. It exists within the changes of the body and permeates the fissures of culture, continuously acting upon fields of meaning that have yet to stabilize. While contemporary society often understands power as the establishment of control and order, within the framework of this exhibition, power is closer to the capacity to sustain change—an open state that allows dissolution, reorganization, and regeneration to coexist.
As the inaugural exhibition of Louisa Coffee's Los Angeles space, the show also responds to the regeneration of this historic building. The exhibition unfolds alongside the relationships among the artworks, the space, and the viewers, through which perception and viewing experiences continuously accumulate. When stepping into the exhibition, visitors face not just a static display, but a still-evolving field of perception; imaginations regarding women, the body, and nature are once again opened through the act of viewing.
In recent years, Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture has actively advocated for the spirit of Cultural ESG, attracting corporate resources to inject into cultural development, guiding enterprises to support cultural and artistic activities or creative industries, and creating win-win scenarios. Supported by the Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles (TECO-LA), this exhibition encompasses contemporary art creations from both Taiwan and the US. It highlights the fruits of Taiwanese-American artistic collision, bringing Taiwanese art into the daily scenery of California, and looks forward to setting off a Taiwanese wave within the Los Angeles lifestyle experience.
Exhibition Information
The Great Mother’s Dream: Metamorphosis as Power and Wisdom is now on view daily at Louisa Coffee's West Hollywood store in the United States. For business hours and further updates, please follow their social media platform: https://www.instagram.com/louisacoffee.la/.