A Ukrainian egg-painting tradition gains popularity in Chicago as the war abroad continues

painted pysanka eggs
The finished product from a morning of 'pysanka' classes at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago. Courtesy of Anna Chychula
painted pysanka eggs
The finished product from a morning of 'pysanka' classes at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago. Courtesy of Anna Chychula

A Ukrainian egg-painting tradition gains popularity in Chicago as the war abroad continues

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This isn’t your average, from-a-kit Easter egg dying.

In preparation for the holiday, many Ukrainians partake in a tradition of intricately decorating eggs called ‘pysanka.’ The term comes from the Ukrainian word pysaty, which means “to write,” and the results are splendid.

“It is your prayer, your message, your hope, your dream,” pysanka artist and instructor Anna Chychula said.

The meditative, skillful act of creating pysanka became increasingly important during the war in Ukraine. Chychula said it’s been increasing people’s awareness of and interest in Ukrainian culture.

“Most are non-Ukrainians who trip over this somehow on the news or TikTok or something. That’s even more important to me because I get to share. I get to share the culture, and then we find out commonalities. People decorate eggs,” Chychula said. “There’s Lithuanian eggs, there’s Polish eggs, and if we can find what our similarities are then we’re connected. And then we understand each other better.”

Her mother taught her how to write pysanka when she was six years old. Now, Chychula teaches a mostly non-Ukrainian audience how to craft their own at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago.

Pysanka is created through a wax-resist method: Chychula had students apply melted beeswax to the shell of a raw egg with a blunt stylus called a kistka. Students filled theirs with beeswax, melted it under the tip of a candle flame and then applied the wax to their eggs.

Wax protects the covered portion of the egg from absorbing color while it’s dyed. Then students repeat the process, adding more beeswax to the egg and submerging it in different colored dyes.

Chychula said pysanka originated in pagan times, but took on a new meaning when Ukraine became predominantly Christian in 988. Traditionally, women wrote pysanka using colors and patterns reflecting their villages during the last week of Lent.

“If you’d been gossiping or you were angry or if you were fighting, nothing would turn out well for you. You had to actually let all of that go. Because what you bring to this — positive, religious, faith, culture — all of that that blends in, you have to approach it that way. If it’s not working out, you have to check yourself,” Chychula said. “‘Am I still mad about work? Am I still upset because of traffic or something?’ You have to be in the right headspace spiritually.”

Chychula’s favorite legend behind the origins of pysanka involves an evil monster roaming the earth.

“He became enchanted and really entranced by watching a young girl make a pysanka, and he wanted to take it from her, but she wouldn’t let him. He finally took it and smashed it (because of all of the symbolism). And all of those shards turned into links of a chain and bound him in a cave.”

Now, he sends minions out into the world to see if people are writing pysanka. If they are, it makes him upset.

“Because every time you write a pysanka, you put another link in the chain. That binds him and keeps chaos from the world.”

a student paints a pysanka egg
A student learns the Ukrainian art of decorating eggs called ‘pysanka’ at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago. Courtesy of Anna Chychula

Students were in suspense about how their eggs would turn out until Chychula dipped them into a bowl of molten beeswax, let them cool and then applied a heat gun to melt away all the previously applied wax.

“It’s beautiful,” student Carmella Van Atta remarked. “And I think it’s the whole creative process that you get to really appreciate. Because you go through it not really knowing what the final product is going to be until she melts the beeswax.”

Another student, Morgan Lott, was surprised she liked the result of hers. She’d had a tough go throughout the class.

“I think it would be hard to make an ugly one of these,” she smiled upon seeing her results.

With each egg that’s revealed, another link is placed in the chain that stops the evil monster from spreading chaos in the world.

Adora Namigadde is a metro reporter for WBEZ. Follow her @adorakn.