Would you like a tea?
Katie Stanley
Master of Architecture | Deakin University
“would you like a cup of tea?steam curls, russet, umber,I serve, you sip, now; settle. would you like a cup of tea?”
MATERIALS: Teabag + Strings
Artist Statement
The practice of drinking tea, its warmth, repetition, and generosity, has been ever present in my life. Offering, the bubbling of the kettle, the quiet wait, the scent rising, and sharing a conversation or a pause. This seemingly ordinary habit, is deeply significant to me. I find comfort in its familiarity and ritual.
By taking used teabags - drying them carefully, washing away the remnants of tea leaves - I attempt to represent this process, and the moments shared across each cup. I have sewn them together using teabag threads, one by one, into a new vessel. What were once alone, forgotten, disposable objects become a reflection of care, of slowness, of ritual made tangible. Each stitch holds attention, repetition, time taken to listen and reflect. This living belonging, made only of teabags and threads, was a meditation and a celebration of the everyday – my quiet form of belonging.
Synopsis
Brewing, serving and drinking tea is a ritual, a quiet companion in the rhythm of my daily life. The process of preparing and drinking it, each step taken with care, is to me a form of belonging – to place, to time, to tradition. It offers warmth and comfort, shared in silence or conversation, alone or together. When I am with family, friends or strangers, in places familiar or foreign.It begins with an invitation, a gesture to another person that you would like to spend some time with them. There is kindness in the way one asks how another takes their tea, a tenderness in the offering.
Then the sound of the kettle, the steeping of leaves, the anticipation of warmth. The tea leaves dance in their bags, the water moves from clear to dark, and the scent rises. Once poured, conversation or contemplation follows. This process is repeated and shared.I have felt every possible sensation over a cup of tea. Vulnerability, grief, nerves, joy, celebration, hope, excitement, calm.
These memories are delicate, layered, and gradually disintegrate over time. Each tea witnesses a story, capturing a moment in time and place. Individually short windows of time, but the repetition and ritual of the process creates structure and grounding. To represent this, I unfolded used teabags, removing the leaves, staples andstrings, and laid them out to dry. Some were my own, and some drunk by and collected from family and friends. Sewn together with teabag strings, their fabric forms a new vessel, filled with stories. The drying, washing, and stitching process parallels the repetition of tea drinking. A meditation on my home and celebration of my everyday.
