One Cup of Tea is a series of paintings and drawings I began between 2019 and 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Each piece was born in a different part of the city, formed in a different moment, face, scent, and feeling of youth. 

They were sketched and drawn with colored pencils and painted with the acrylic paints that  I had bought from an art shop in Pole Surkh called Circle (دایره). While excited for my new materials, I would sit with a cup of tea at Cupcake Café in Karteh-Chahar, and wait for my friends, my sister, or sometimes for my date.

I drew while sitting in a dentist’s waiting room beside another artist, who encouraged me to dream bigger, to stretch my small papers, to trust in color…and to work big! Then we would walk and always end up sharing a cup of tea.

And some of the drawings and paintings were created at home…. On days I was not feeling well but my mom always comforted me with a warm cup of tea. 

These paintings are full of color, full of life, and each one holds a story. They hold memories I carry close to my heart. Though some of these pieces remain back home, hanging on the walls or stored away in a box, what I took with me were their memories and the remembrance of having a cup of tea with them.