The week before Easter began with the beauty of pysanka at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill on Saturday, April 1. Pysanka is the Ukrainian art of Easter Egg decoration using beeswax, candles, a special drawing tool called a kistka, and various colours of dye. Ukrainian-born Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) student Maya Chenier led a pysanka workshop with VCI Art Teacher Giselle Paquette.
There were 10 participants in the workshop. They learned how to use the kistka to make lines on eggs, beeswax to divide which parts of the egg would have various colours, and dipping the eggs in dyes.
“This is a traditional thing we do on Easter,” Chenier said.
Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine resulting from Russia’s invasion of the country, pysanka is especially meaningful to Maya this year. She said pysanka is a show of resiliency and dignity.
“It’s a way of remembrance, it’s a way of consistency,” Chenier explained.
The pysanka workshop at Arbor Gallery accompanies a display of vytynanka, a traditional Ukrainian method of cutting intricate designs in paper. Those images were created by Margo Chomkulska, also a Ukrainian student at VCI. The vytynanka display will continue at Arbor Gallery throughout the month of April.
Photos from the pysanka workshop by James Morgan
