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By Saleh Fareed
ART can be made from just about anything and this Bahraini artist gave re-used materials a new life by creating an amazing series of artworks out of used tea bags.
To take part in the annual “Food is Culture” festival in Bahrain, Mayasa Al Sowaidi who has won awards throughout the region for her work which is characterized by its distinct shapes and impressions, came up with a novel idea of using teabags to think outside the box without any restrictions or limits.
When given the opportunity, she did not hesitate to join the team of participants who shared their brilliant ideas over the course of six consecutive nights of dazzling creativity, each writing a story in their own style linking food with art.
“At one point, the idea occurred to me that tea could be the common element between art and food. The mix of East and West in our work added another type of charm and inspired me to create a comprehensive exhibition rather than just one work of art,” she said.
To make her art come true, she joined hands with Susy Massetim, an Italian chef with tremendous experience and creativity.
“I was lucky to have Chef Susy with me and she excelled in providing a variety of foods in which tea was an essential element in the preparation.
Me and Chef Susy began by collecting used tea bags until we had amassed more than 3,000 leaves. I dried and cleaned them very carefully and selected those I would use for my first experimentation with collages,” she added.
Some of the artwork also referenced the colors of tea: black, red, green and white, she continued “I wanted to create from raw materials using something as simple as tea bags. Each time I gathered them with relish and separated them with care so they would not come apart in my hands. Each one left inscriptions and remnants that carried stories and different forms.
Chef Suzy and I read together about the history of tea and our passion would carry us away as we imagined ways to infuse tea into our creations. It is the most famous and tastiest drink in the world. The flavor summons memory and imagination. It is also found in many civilizations.”
She pointed out that artists know that art can be made from pretty much anything, even with what others might consider trash, “This technique allowed me to present an extraordinary chapter of my story as an artist creating works rooted in celebratory rituals, not unlike the rituals of serving tea to guests. Just as a collage relies on the recycling of used materials, the tea bags and remnants were my simple colors and materials to express an essential idea artistically,” she said.
“It is a new form of creativity for me and the tea leaves were given another chance at immortality by affixing them to a canvas for us to taste in another form, to sip art in a different way.”
