WASHINGTON — A painter and expert on a distinctly Ukrainian and vividly-colored art style called “Petrykivka” has been in the U.S. to not only acquaint people here with the form but to teach them how to create works of their own.
Master artist Halyna Nazarenko was born in Petrykivka, the village in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast from which the art form takes its name.
It became the main center continuing to produce the time-honored motifs incorporating such images as the tree of life and “Kozak Mamai,” the warrior-balladeer strumming a musical instrument, sitting under a tree surrounded by his horse and weapons.
Over three weeks in July, Nazarenko visited six locations in America where she and the married couple who organized her visit, Yuri Mischenko and Natalie Pawlenko, talked about the art form’s history and taught participants to produce their own pictures.
They provided the audience with silhouettes – similar to outlines in children’s coloring books – of a traditional image used by Petrykivka and handed out brushes and acrylic paints. Nazarenko then guided her pupils through the painting process.
Petrykivka has for centuries been an applied art by folk artists to decorate the exteriors and interiors of adobe house walls, and utilitarian objects such as the large indoor clay ovens, in each home, and household objects like chests to store and protect embroidered clothes, wedding dresses, bed linen, and other precious items.
It developed into the decoration of ornamental ceramic and wooden items, long popular as souvenirs of Ukraine. Paintings using Petrykivka traditional motifs and techniques have become prized art pieces.
Nazarenko has been drawing since childhood. She studied in an art high school, graduated from the Myrhorod Art College, and her works have been exhibited internationally.
During her American tour two workshops were held at the Ukrainian Museum in New York City and others at Ukrainian cultural centers at Jenkintown, in the state of Pennsylvania, Somerset, New Jersey, the “Soyuzivka” Ukrainian community resort in New York state during its summer cultural festival, and with the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America in Somerset, New Jersey.
The final event on Nazarenko’s present tour was organized by the Washington branch of the Women’s League and held on July 21 at the library of the U.S. capital’s Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Family.
A style that reflects the Ukrainian soul
Nazarenko told her audience of 20 aspiring artists in Washington about the simple origins of the art form where pigments were made using readily-available ingredients such as vegetables or eggs for tempura and washes. Onions split in half or palms of hands dipped in colors were often used to imprint patterns on household surfaces.
She said that people are attracted by the radiant primary colors used in Petrykivka works: “This is an art which tells of Ukrainian roots. It’s very pretty but it also beautifully reflects the Ukrainian soul that is vibrant and positive.”
Nazarenko explained to her pupils that the original nature of the paintings depended on the way the colors were applied as much as the composition of the images.
Brushstrokes are deliberate, with different motions, using different parts of a brush made of cat hair. She taught a two-color technique where she “loaded” the brush with one main color and dipped the tip slightly in another to produce a two-tone, gradation when applied to paper or canvas.
The art form was “discovered” by ethnographers involved in researching Ukrainian folk history and traditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Petrykivka emerged as the pre-eminent center for the tradition which flourished in villages along the river valley in Dnipro and Zaporizhya Oblasts.
Others forming the cradle of Petrykivka art included Chaplynka, Shulhivka, Mishuryn Rih, Spaske, Kapulivka, Pokrovske, Romankivka, Chumaky villages.
When the communists took control in the 1920s many of them wanted to eradicate Petrykivka art and herd its practitioners into collective farms.
The art form was uncomfortable evidence for the new rulers of an ancient, vibrant Ukrainian history and culture that clashed with Moscow’s chauvinistic and distorted preachings that everything Ukrainian was an inferior, poor relation to the Russian master-race.
But patriotic Ukrainian officials suggested that the art not only be preserved but taught, holding out the incentive it could be established as a money-spinning industry for the cash-pressed authorities.
Petrykivka art linked to ancient cultures
That led to artists receiving proper art school education in the techniques and elevated Petrykivka to a recognized, unique art form which, in 2013, was placed on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
However, many of the examples of the work were destroyed deliberately or because they were fragile and relatively small quantities wound up in museums. The art form was largely stifled in other places where it had thrived, leaving Petrykivka village the main proponent of the form.
That is why, Nazarenko believes, it is essential to preserve and develop this unique style. “It’s fundamental that without culture there is no nation,” she said.
Yuri Mishchenko, a retired banking executive who was born in Ukraine and lives in the state of New Jersey in the U.S., became captivated by the art after he and his wife visited Petrykivka 10 years ago.
Since then they have collected more than 200 of the paintings, and devoted much time, energy and money organizing events to bring Petrykivka art to the notice of the wider world.
Mishchenko said the origins of Petrykivka art could be traced to what is now Central Ukraine from many centuries ago when an ancient people called the Scythians inhabited the area on the north coast of the Black Sea.
He said: “It’s probably a millennial-old tradition to use the image of the tree of life which exists in many areas of the Black Sea regardless of the culture – Crimean Tatar, Circassians, Sarmatians, Polovtsians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians.
“The tree of life is a universal, ancient pagan motif that predates the Bible. Luckily, in Ukraine, it was blended with Christianity very collaboratively as the newly-arrived Orthodox Church did not eradicate many layers of the previous pagan era.”
Other common motifs include floral bouquets, linked to the image of the “tree of life” and signifying the beauty of nature; hollyhock bushes and viburnum berries designate feminine beauty while oak represents masculinity and strength. Asters, poppies, tulips, roses, daisies, cornflowers, sunflowers, hops, grapes, apples, strawberries, cherries also appear.
Birds often figure as a symbol of harmony with specific meanings for some species. The cuckoo represents the mystery of eternity and the firebird happiness. The rooster, which was at the center of the image the pupils Washington painted, is a symbol of the cyclical rebirth of nature.
Mishchenko said elements of those symbols also existed in Trypillian decoration found on ceramics. Archaeologists and historians believe Trypillian culture existed between 5,500 to 2,750 B.C. and represents one of Europe’s earliest civilizations, with inhabitants living in towns, on what is now Ukrainian and Romanian territory.
Mischenko added that many of those motifs were incorporated into traditional Ukrainian embroidery and weaving as well as patterns used by various cultures in the region which diverged and existed separately with the arrival of Christianity and Islam.
He said the cultures’ art forms were rooted in prehistoric traditions and mythology but “did not cross-pollinate” extensively in modern times. However, he said that particularly the tree of life motif existed in all those cultures.
He said the same influences probably affected “Kozak Mamai” imagery of the kobza-playing bard-warrior although it developed into its present familiar form in the 17th century as evidenced by the tobacco pipe and firearms that were introduced to the region during that era.
In those times, Petrykivka-style ethnic art was closely associated with Ukrainian Zaporizhzhyan Kozak statehood. A Kozak Mamai painting was considered almost as essential a family possession as a religious icon, said Mishchenko.
One of those attending the class was Lesya Hursky, who paints as a hobby. “I think this style of painting is beautiful and fun and happy. We were given a template and Halyna Nazarenko showed us how to use some of the brush strokes which are very different from anything I’ve done before.”
Another of those present was Rosalie Norair: “I was interested in attending this because it’s Ukrainian folk art and is rooted in the earth of Ukraine. It’s great to learn about a part of our heritage.”
All 20 participants delightedly declared their freshly-painted works would be framed and hung on the walls of their homes.
Mishchenko said that since Ukrainian independence in 1991, “the popularity of Petrykivka art has experienced something of a renaissance.” It is not only by souvenir-hunters but has acquired a following among serious art collectors and researchers.
Recently, Halyna Nazarenko and fellow artist, Iryna Kibets, contributed to the decoration of St. George’s wooden church in central Kyiv.
