Pysanky Exhibit in Port Perry

The Kent Farndale Gallery in Port Perry, Ontario (25 km north of Oshawa) hosted the exhibit Lasting Legacy: Ukrainian Pysanky, which featured the works of a family of pysanka artists – Maria Steventon and her son Andrew (both of Toronto), Doris Cherkas, Irene Chromej-Johnston and her daughter Melanie Ferguson (all three from Oshawa).  As the daughters and grandchildren of Anna Chromej, a woman well-known in Durham Region for her Ukrainian Easter Eggs, they have dedicated the show to their late mother and grandmother as a tribute to her for teaching them the art of Easter Egg “writing’ or pysanky, as Anna’s mother had taught her in Ukraine many years ago.

“My earliest memories of the pre-Easter season are of sitting together – three generations of the Chromej Family – around a table laden with jars of dyes: red, yellow, orange, black, and a colourful array of eggs in various stages of completion, each  meticulously drawn with the melted wax.  The pungent sweet smell of beeswax being heated and reheated filled the house and made the distinctive statement that Easter and spring were on their way,” said Irene Chromej-Johnston.

The five artists create traditional pysanky as well as Trypillian and contemporary designs. Regional designs show the variety and beauty of pysanky from every area of Ukraine.  Irene Chromej-Johnston and Melanie Ferguson have painted (religious subjects of) icons on goose eggs and are shown in the exhibit.  This year, Irene Chromej-Johnston has created a series of eggs to resemble the nesting dolls one may find in Ukraine.  All five artists view pysanky as an important aspect of Ukrainian culture, an opportunity to combine an ancient art form with the contemporary, and a lasting symbol of the legacy of their Ukrainian heritage.

For almost 40 years, the Chromej Family has displayed, demonstrated and sold pysanky at various churches, libraries, community centres, and schools throughout the Greater Toronto Area.  They have participated in many annual events such as Easter Around the World in Oshawa, season opening day celebrations at Cullen Gardens in Whitby, and U.C.W.L.C. Teas in Scarborough and Toronto.  They have also conducted workshops and classes for the Durham District School Board, the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, Knox Presbyterian Church, St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Lviv and Dnipro Ukrainian Cultural Centres in Oshawa, Clarington Visual Arts Centre, and the Girl Guides.  In 1994, Melanie Ferguson was curator of Art of the Pysanka exhibit at the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, which displayed her pysanky and those by Anna Chromej and Irene Chromej-Johnston.  In 2004, Doris Cherkas and Irene Chromej-Johnston exhibited at Canadian Tapestry at the Pickering Village Museum.  In 2004 – 2006, Doris Cherkas also featured her pysanky at the West Shore Village Community Centre and plans on doing so again this year.  Irene Chromej-Johnston is a member of the International Egg Art Guild, and all are members of the Creative Pysanka Design Egg Art Guild.

Lasting Legacy: Ukrainian Pysanky was shown at the Kent Farndale Gallery, 231 Water Street, Port Perry, ON (905-985-7686) until Thursday, March 29, 2007.  For further information, please email PysankyatPort@aol.com or phone Maria Steventon (416-299-5159) or Doris Cherkas (905-579-0697).