Inspired by a photograph Phoebe took nine years ago, when a burning flame revealed the vision of Guanyin, Temple of Memory traces a transformation of faith–from the ephemeral flicker of the unseen to the physical manifestation of devotion. 

After witnessing the fire appear in the likeness of the Bodhisattva, Phoebe’s mother raised funds to restore a temple and commission a bronze statue in commemoration of the image. Phoebe later joined a pilgrimage to China, where a group of the temple’s disciples built a makeshift kitchen inside of a factory to prepare food for a prayer ceremony as molten bronze was poured into the statue’s mold. 

In the spirit of the temple memory, the installation centers an altar dedicated to the fire and bronze Guanyin as a site of offering and reflection throughout the exhibition. On opening night, a communal prayer will be followed by a “temple canteen” serving sliding-scale Buddhist vegetarian food. Temple of Memory invites visitors to experience how faith and care are continuously forged through the unseen labors that sustain belief.