Ruby Silvious

Today is Friday, July 16th

Hello everyone! Today we’re looking at Ruby Silvious’ “COVID Blues”. Silvious is “internationally recognized for her miniature paintings and collages on the used tea bag,” particularly for her project “363 Days of Tea,” and it’s subsequent book on the series, as well as her most recent publication,Reclaimed Canvas: Reimagining the Familiar. During her 14 days of self isolation early on in the coronavirus pandemic, Silvious set out to create one piece of art each day, using everyday objects as her canvases and sculptural media. She titled the series “COVID Blues” after Picasso’s “Blue Period,” with each piece featuring elements of monochrome blue and reflecting the state of a world in crisis and response. Some are poignant, such as Day Four’s “Six Feet Apart,” featuring small human figures collaged onto blue paint chips, one figure per square, all equidistant. Day Eight’s piece is an elegant single paper shoe created out of a folded snack bag, titled “Self-Isolation”. Others are cheeky, searching for a relieving laugh in the overwhelming task of watching the numbers; for Day Three, Silvious origami-folds the label on her soup can into a brassier, with the title “Flattening the Curve”. Other works in the series are made out of empty coffee cups, leaves, pistachio shells, eggs, and more tea bags. The project concludes on Day Fourteen with a hopeful note and one last tea bag. The piece, “Better Days are Coming” shows a small child pinning hearts and masks onto a clothesline over a blue watercolor background. The tag at the end of the teabag string reads “Your greatest strength is love.”

You can view all of "COVID Blues" and more of Ruby Silvious' teabag art on her website, rubysilvious.com.