Temple of Janus
Temple of Janus was a solo exhibition at COOP Gallery, Nashville, TN, in 2026. Below are installation images, video documentation and a statement about the work.
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, endings, transitions, passages, time and doorways. He has two faces—one which looks to the past, the other to the future. At a time of incredible uncertainty and anxiety, this temple is a space to contemplate what comes next. What reality do we want to see in the future? And what past trauma do we wish to leave behind?
The Temple of Janus, Forum Holitorium (260 BCE), is one of two temples I drew inspiration from. The other is the Temple of Janus, Roman Forum (c. 600 BCE), which was relatively small. Both temples contained sculptures of Janus. The temple in the Roman Forum had doorways on both ends of the of the structure creating a passageway for visitors. It’s this passageway that I re-envisioned for COOP Gallery.
The paper 2x4s that are used to construct the temple mimic the columns of ancient temples and are also metaphors for the internal frameworks of our minds. I began creating the 2x4s in 2020 and they’re reused following each exhibition, being repaired, patched and reformed into 8-foot lengths. In this way, they carry the history of what has come before—just as we do with our own personal histories.
Coins were an item commonly used as offerings at Roman temples. Visitors to the temple are invited to take a coin. With it in hand, they are prompted to imagine the world they want to see in the future. Or that which they wish to leave in the past. They can then deposit the coin into an offering box inside the temple. Following the exhibition, the offering boxes will be sealed, creating time capsules of our shared hopes.
Imagining a better world provides a destination toward which we can orient ourselves, much as a driver instinctively steers toward the point where their gaze is fixed. This can serve not merely as a form of speculation, but as a compass for collective action.
This is the opportunity offered in the Temple of Janus—a chance to imagine forward toward the world we want to see.
