Created in 2024, this piece incorporates painted, dyed tea bags arranged in a rectangular grid, with the bottom three rows overlapping, mounted on canvas. Some of the individual tea bags are painted with flowers, ornaments, grids, and geometric shapes evoking elements of jogakbo, (Korean traditional patchwork).
The artist has said, “Each tea bag represents a unique individual, steeped in their own experiences, memories, and emotions. The colors and textures symbolize their personal journeys, with the variations in hue and depth reflecting the complexity of human emotions and experiences. Just as tea bags are infused with diverse flavors and aromas, each person carries within them a richness that contributes to the tapestry of life. Assembling these individual tea bags into a larger artwork, I tried to create a mosaic that tells our story of diversity.”
Jooseal Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She studied fashion design at Chung-ang University, then received her MFA in fiber art and illustration at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
This artwork was acquired in 2025 as part of the Skokie Public Library’s new art initiative established with the vision, “to establish a robust and relevant collection of visual art. Building on our artistic legacy, we will invigorate our permanent collection with work that inspires and enlightens, reflects the evolving diversity of our community, provokes further investigation and deeper understanding, and cultivates a culture of art appreciation.”
Located on the northwest wall in the Reading Room on the Second Floor.
Medium: Tea bags, mixed media, and acrylic paint on canvas
Rights
In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
