Teabags, a staple in most Irish households, a signifier of welcome, hospitality and warmth. In her collection of pieces for this exhibition, artist Rina Whyte used teabags, stitched together to form a base on which to print and stitch. The work was inspired by Jane Clarke’s poem, Eggs, which begins with the lines:

I'd have followed her anywhere
but my grandmother rarely went further 
than the yard, tending her hens.

The words resonated with Rina because of the her connection with her own grandmother. Rina views the humble egg as a symbol of the female connection and bond, the passing down of knowledge as well as bloodline. The possibility of life symbolised in an egg is passed from grandmother to daughter and granddaughter. The guardians of that life possibility – mothers, daughters, granddaughters and, of course, chickens!

The story in the poem, the connections between eggs, grandmothers, kitchen tables and hens all rolled together for Rina to a memory of her grandmother providing her with her first cup of tea – hence the tea bags!

There are some artists whose notebooks are works of art in themselves – and Rina is one of them. She spends many hours doing sketches and samples in notebooks in preparation for each project she undertakes. These artist notebooks are frequently displayed in exhibitions as it gives an insight into the thought process of the artists and the journey the work has taken from an idea to reality. In this instance we did not have the space to display it but here is a glimpse of two pages from her notebook:

Rina took the task of salvaging used tea bags from cups and mugs very seriously, with many a frantic shout to unsuspecting family and friends not to throw out the tea bag! The process of preparing them was a slow meditative one – gently cutting them open, emptying the contents and hanging the paper to dry. There was joy in seeing the patterns that remained when the empty bag had dried out – each one a record of a quiet moment in time or an animated conversation. Kitchen tables and tea are so symbolic and embedded in Irish life.

And, of course, eggs don’t exist without chickens. Rina had fun drawing the hen motif which features throughout the work, a shape “so simple even a child could have created it” and used the gelli plate printing method to print onto the stitched teabag ‘fabric’. The ‘cantankerous cockerel‘, featured in the poem, also made an appearance.

Free machine embroidery was used to create a collection of chickens and cockerels who feature on an accordion fold book, moving, gathering, pecking, focusing on their needs. Rina spent time watching and drawing the movements of a flock of hens as they scratched, sought grubs and crumbs until they eventually returned to their nest boxes.

This gathering of work is displayed in a diverse way – some pieces are attached to chicken wire (what else!), some are beautifully framed, some stitched into a book form, and some are just scattered printed teabags in a display case. In all its variety it makes a pleasing and unique assemblage.

One of the framed pieces in this collection, Coop Eggs III, has been sold.

Thanks to Rina for sharing her notebook with us and the inspiration for the work. Thank you to Jane Clarke for her collaboration and to her publisher, Bloodaxe Books, for permission to use her poems. Thanks also to the OPW for the opportunity to exhibit and Kildare County Council for funding through the Arts Act Grant.

To see these works up close and personal, visit the exhibition ROOTS, a dialogue in textile and poetry, in the Coach House Gallery, Dublin Castle. Open 7 days a week, 10 am – 5 pm, closed for lunch 1.15 – 1.45 pm.

Some of Jane’s books are now available in the gift shop in Chester Beatty Library next to the Coach House.