the origin of green tea is china. over thousands of years, tea became one of the essential elements of daily life in asia and throughout the world. tea has nourished the development of china’s great civilization and is connected to the basic nature of the oriental people. drinking tea creates a unique atmosphere conducive to leisurely chatting, friendship, relaxation, even business. tea becomes an inseparable part of the oriental people, their way of life, and the symbol of their culture. tea enriches the spirit and is often associated with quietness, meditation, humbleness and transcendence. in modern times, drinking tea is regarded as healthy for our body and soul.

rice paper is the main essential material for chinese, japanese and korean painting. after the yuan dynasty, rice paper revolutionized chinese painting by replacing silk as a substrate. recently, during my visit to jing county in anhui province, china, i saw the original process of making rice paper by hand - a process which has been used in this factory for more than a thousand years. it was a fascinating experience for me to see, for the first time, how rice paper is made. it was quite inspirational indeed. the nature of rice paper allows the painter to create effects of subtlety, transparency and power within and flexibility and softness as silk and iron.

this project will combine authentic green tea leaves with the historical method of making rice paper. the result is the “new way of tea” - the painting and writing on tea paper will create “new way of tea culture” or “cultured tea”, altering our experience from the enjoyment of drinking to the enjoyment of art.

since 1993, i have been creating a series of art projects entitled “from middle kingdom to biological millennium”. “tea alchemy” is a new art project and one of the projects within this series.

as part of the series, i have completed my “forest of stone steles - retranslation and rewriting of tang poetry” (50 stone steles, each 110 cm wide x 190 cm long x 20 cm thick); “silk road”- a video installation with human hair braids, electronic cables, genetic liquid ink and ink sticks made of powdered chinese hair; and “wenda gu’s marriage life”, the wedding performances’ series with brides of different races.

oct. 26th, 2001