Jamie Diamond: Monstra Te Esse Matrem, 2026
February 10 - July 28, 2026
Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade
Artist-in-Residence Jamie Diamond challenges the idealization of the persona of mother in her work for the Gardner public art façade
My mother’s mask came off and I saw her not as a mother, but as a woman.
All of us play roles every day. For some, that role is “mother.” But no person inhabits a single role, and no person can play their roles perfectly at all times.
When she was eight years old, Gardner Artist-in-Residence Jamie Diamond witnessed her own mother's mask come off. This drove Diamond to write a letter to herself, outlining what kind of mother she would be. That letter marked the beginning of her engagement with the concept of motherhood, fraught with contradictory societal expectations, glorified and belittled.
Diamond’s work for the Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade, outside of the Gardner Museum, is the latest manifestation of this exploration. In Monstra Te Esse Matrem (show yourself to be a mother), Diamond, now a mother herself, challenges the idealization of motherhood with an image that is both self-portrait and fantasy, asking: what does it mean to be a mother?
Image courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Jamie Diamond: Monstra Te Esse Matrem, 2026 [rendering] © Jamie Diamond.
About the Artist
Photo courtesy of Ivan Gianti
Jamie Diamond (b. 1983, USA) is a performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose work explores the human figure through themes of motherhood, memory, and intimacy. She often uses herself as a subject or collaborates with strangers, mimes, professional actors, and outsider artists to inhabit a range of characters and roles. Through this process, she examines authenticity and blurs the line between reality and fabrication, challenging traditional narratives and societal norms.
Explore the Other Exhibitions
Picturing Isabella
Fenway Gallery
February 19—May 21, 2026
Jamie Diamond: Monstra Te Esse Matrem, 2026 is supported in part by Barbara and Amos Hostetter, the Barbara Lee Program Fund, Fredericka and Howard Stevenson, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The Artist-in-Residence program is supported in part by Lizbeth and George Krupp and The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Inc., and directed by Pieranna Cavalchini, Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art. Funding is also provided for site-specific installations of new work on the Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade on Evans Way.
