The Slavic department was thrilled to once again invite the Northwestern community to take part in the Ancient Art of Pysanky. On a Saturday morning in May, we all rolled up our sleeves and settled in for a spiritual and almost meditative 8hr experience. Phones were put away, and hollow eggs came alive with intricate hand-drawn designs - some inspired by traditional Ukrainian designs-, layers of beeswax and dyes while workshop participants from age 18 to 80 enjoyed the soothing chants of monks and each others' company.
Pysanky (pes-un-kee) is an ancient matriarchal folk art from Ukraine that uses eggs as a canvas. Pysanky artist, Janet Hundrieser, led the workshop in a cultural presentation that grounded us all in the history and meaning of this rich Ukrainian folk art before moving onto the creative process of decorating our eggs.
Some came to dive deeper into Slavic culture after taking Russian or Polish language classes, others because they had seen family Pysanka but hadn't taken part in it themselves, still others thought it just sounded fun. Whatever the reason, workshop participants had a great time together celebrating the Ancient Art of Pysanky.
Photos above show student Vani Bansal's progression in making her Pysanka: pattern is drawn onto egg with wax, dipped into dye, pattern is added to with more wax and dipped into different colored dye. When layered pattern is finished, the egg is warmed up to melt the wax off to reveal the final Pysanka.
Photos above show student Sophia Mitton Fry's dual design celebrating Spring.
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Egg by Hyrum Rich
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Egg by Katya Nogin
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Eggs by Andi Griñé
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Egg by Micah Sandy
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Eggs by Deanne Puloka
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Egg by Zeta Whitmer
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Egg by Sophia Mitton-Fry
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Eggs by Zeta Whitmer
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This cultural workshop was made possible by the Xenia Youhon Memorial Fund.
Look out for our next Pysanky workshop and be added to the Slavic listserv by emailing slavic@northwestern.edu. We'd love to see you there!
