I don’t know how the work of New York artist Ik-Joong Kang could have escaped my notice until now. And it wasn’t even in New York that I discovered him rather, in Princeton, New Jersey, when enjoying my annual get together with my two sisters—or Sisters’ Weekend as we like to call it—but that’s a post for another day.

My sister, Muriel, and I made a quick pitstop into the Princeton Library to warm up for a minute when we spied this incredibly colorful mural made up of thousands of ceramic tiles and other artifacts contributed by artists and local Princetonians at the direction of artist Ik-Joong Kang to celebrate the re-opening of the Princeton Library in 2004.

So fun and playful, we stopped to get a closer look at some of the mini masterpieces with me taking a few iPhone photos and, Muriel, ever the knowledge seeker, reading up on the artist and the history behind the work of art.

Mixed in with the mini artworks were these mini poems. I couldn’t believe they were written by grammar school aged kids. Amazing! One I loved but unfortunately screwed up the photo read:

Some Works on Unfinishment

Sometimes I feel
As unfinished as an
Unframed picture,
One shoe in a shoe box,
A mirror in an all-white room.

Jess Fischer
Age 8

I mean, really. What are they feeding those kids in Princeton?

Mary Maru