Pysanky Workshop Reception
Pysanky Art created by students
What is Pysanky?
Pysanky (pes-un-kee) is an ancient matriarchal folk art that uses eggs as a canvas.
Its origins are in the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillian culture (5000-3000 BCE), whose people existed in the region we know of as Ukraine today. They created intricately designed pottery and the meanings of their motifs and designs were later copied onto eggs and evolved into a deeply spiritual pre-Christian practice.
The word Pysanka/y (singular/plural) derives from the Ukrainian word pysaty, which means “to-write”. Chicken leg bones were filled with melted beeswax and used as a writing tool, which we now call a kistka (kiss-ka). They used the kistka/y (singular/plural), to depict and communicate their beliefs and understandings of the world around them symbolically. They also used motifs and colors to express their emotions and the cycles of birth, life, death and rebirth in nature and for all living things.
In the late first millennium, missionaries used pysanky to teach Christianity. Nets that had illustrated bounty and abundance on eggs, were now used to explain that Christ was a “fisher of men”. And small circles and dots that had depicted rain, were now “Mary’s tears of sorrow”. Thus, pysanky transformed into a Lenten tradition that came to represent Christianity in Ukraine. So much so, that under Soviet rule, making pysanky was prohibited and punishable. This, along Ukrainian immigration and assimilation into other countries, threatened pysanky with extinction. And while Ukraine’s independence from the Soviets in 1991 did allow for the resurgence of pysanky, that is yet again jeopardized by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is up to the Ukrainian diaspora, living in free countries throughout the world, to continue this ancient folk art, that unites all Ukrainians, in history, tradition and a culture unbound by borders, with the hope of peace.
Artist Biography
Janet Hundrieser is the Great-Granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants from the tiny village of Vovkivtsi in Chortkiv, Ternopil, Ukraine. Her unique mtDNA haplogroup has been found in excavated human remains of the Cucuteni-Tripillian Culture within Verteba Cave, located approximately 11 miles from Vovkivtsi. This suggests she is also a likely matriarchal descendant of that culture.
As a child, her grandmother explained the fundamentals of pysanky and she was captivated. After her grandmother died, she began an annual Lenten trek to the Ukrainian Village in Chicago to purchase books and supplies in the pre-internet world. She learned how to make pysanky in earnest, building her skillset and knowledge. She has hosted “Egg Days” in her home, where she has taught family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues how to make pysanky and enjoy traditional food celebrating Ukrainian culture. In Ukrainian folklore, it is believed that as long as pysanky are being made, good will triumph over evil and peace will prevail throughout the world. It is her hope this is true and happily shares her pysanky and expertise. Janet also created and manages the Facebook Group, “Drapak-Zabiaka Family History and Photographs”, where her Ukrainian cousins exchange information, ask questions, learn family history and enjoy multi-generational Zooms across four time zones.
Janet is fascinated by the interplay between color and design in everyday life. She explores that dynamic not only through pysanky, but in mosaic, decoupage, sewing, quilting, needlepoint, embroidery, cross-stitch, crochet and knitting. During the first year of the Covid pandemic in 2020, she made and donated over 400 facemasks and in the second year, completed seven quilts. Besides these creative interests, Janet uses DNA to help adoptees find their parentage and family history via genetic genealogy. She began her career at NU in 2005 at The Center for Public Safety, providing program support for law enforcement, traffic, and engineering training. In 2014 she became the executive assistant to the chair of pathology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Since 2017 she has been the administrator for the Science in Human Culture Program. She attended DePaul University and received a B.S. degree in psychology from Northwestern University.