Kristine (Khrystyna) Mushkevych (Beaverton) is a traditional Ukrainian pysanka (Ukrainian egg decorating) artist from Lviv (Ukraine). An active member of the Portland-Beaverton Ukrainian community and an advocate for Ukrainian culture, Mushkevych makes traditional and modern pysanka eggs, teaches lectures and workshops on the tradition, and participates in various efforts to increase the support of Ukrainian language and culture in Oregon.
Bio
Pysanka-making is the Ukrainian Easter tradition of decorating eggs in different colors using a wax-resist process. The artist uses a special tool, pysachok, to draw lines of melted wax on the egg, and then colors the egg in different dyes, repeating this technique to create a multi-color pattern. As Mushkevych explains, creating pysanka eggs takes patience and time: one egg requires at least 2-3 hours of work, not including the time to prepare the egg. She feels that pysanka is a form of meditation, which helps one find inner balance and peace.
Mushkevych was a teenager when she first started making pysanka eggs in her hometown of Lviv (Ukraine), and reconnected with this artform after moving to Oregon. Far-removed from her home-country and other tradition-bearers, Mushkevych continues improving her skills with the help of the online community of US-based Ukrainian pysanka artists. She also learns new pysanka patterns and techniques from books published in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Mushkevych’s pysanka art is well-known and beloved by the Ukrainians of Oregon, and she is frequently invited to teach and display her work at events such as Ukrainian Day (Portland), Lavender Festival (Hillsboro), OFN Culture Fest (Portland). In response to the 2022 Russian invasion, Mushkevych started donating pysanka eggs to fundraisers in support of Ukraine. In 2023, she led a presentation on Ukrainian pysanka at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History (University of Oregon, Eugene). Mushkevych also makes a positive impact on Ukrainian representation in libraries by organizing readings of Ukrainian folktales and advocating to supply books written in Ukrainian.
