Chris Levy and Friends: Pysanky

Artist Reception will be held on November 2nd 3:00- 5:00. The public is welcome

Pysanky!   is an exhibit of intricately decorated eggs created by skilled pysanky artists, each bringing their unique skill to the art form and telling a story of their own through their craft.   The art of pysanky, or ‘writing on eggs’, has a deep history in Ukrainian culture, originating in ancient times and handed down from generation to generation.  It thrives today as a unique and celebrated art form which is currently practiced by many artists of all backgrounds, elevating the craft to the realm of fine art. The works in this exhibit range from traditional pysanky to contemporary expressions of the traditional art form.

A pysanky is created using bee’s wax resist; the artist applies melted wax to the egg using various tools such as wax pens, ‘kistkas’, quills, or styluses.  The egg is submerged in a dye bath, more wax applied, more dye baths, and so on, in a batik process.  Finally, the wax is melted from the egg and the underlying design is revealed.  The artist works in reverse, from light to darker colors, masking each layer, hiding any work under a layer of wax.  The design can’t be seen until the very last step when all the wax is melted from the egg.

Making a pysanky is an almost magical experience. Whether you embrace cultural or spiritual beliefs surrounding pysanky, or just love the infinite combinations of patterns, color, and design, I hope you enjoy viewing the pysanky as much as the artist enjoys creating them!