Terri Tibbatts

Water for Tea

Water for Tea is comprised of 72 haiku poems printed on small, hued cards, coupled with eight sumi-e drawings of objects. Contained in a cloth envelope made of Japanese kasuri, the poems are meant to be read in conjunction with viewing the images, which are printed and painted on translucent handmade waxed Japanese paper mounted on thin Plexiglas panels. The image cards fit into grooves in a cherry wood box that serves as a display case, a light box and a container for the book’s multiple parts.

Artist Terri Tibbatts said: “Water for Tea is meant to be interactive and playful. It is a book that requires space and time to look at it. Because haiku and sumi-e are both so minimal, the book requires the reader to use his or her own imagination and encourages personal reflection.”

Press: Constructed by the Artist
Date: 2004
Number and Edition: 27 of 50
Size: 14.5” x 7.25”