Created to accompany Beth Guipe Hall’s exhibition Ghost Hands, this installation can be considered a time capsule of sorts, reflecting the culture and traditions of my native Ukraine. Preserving these traditions takes on a special meaning now as Ukraine fights to save its land, its culture, its history, its people’s lives.

I wanted to evoke a specific setting in a Ukrainian village, a sun-lit room filled with many finished and unfinished projects, where magic happened for many generations of women. The sheer veils act as a shield to protect the items displayed on the table, which are arranged casually as if women had just been working there to make these garments and other traditional pieces. They include genuine Ukrainian traditional vyshyvanki (embroidered garments) and rushniki (embroidered cloths used to dress up an icon, wrap bread or simply hang on a wall), some more than a century old. My dear friend Nina Suntzeff, a collector, graciously offered to share them for this exhibit. One of the unfinished works is a rushnik my mother has started.

The veils themselves display historical images from Ukraine, including photographs of my mother in her youth. To me, she embodies tradition, strength, love, hard work and protection. She started sewing professionally at the age of 15 to contribute to the family. For her, sewing is a craft, a love, a career and a saving grace. She spent days stitching the veils and also worked alongside Beth’s mother to assist with other pieces seen in the broader exhibition.

Stitched onto the veils are the outline of the nation of Ukraine, along with lines written by a contemporary Ukrainian poet, Nadia Krasotkina. The words are poignant and ring true, and they translate roughly to:

My mother embroidered the shirt, Ту сорочину мама вишивала,
Weaving in her special thoughts and dreams. Вплітала думи й мрії непрості.
Her love and heart she invested into each stitch Любов свою і серденько вкладала,
to create a cloak of protection for my life. Щоб оберегом стала у житті.

Vyshyvanka is said to protect the person wearing it, and it tells a story. There is a Ukrainian saying, “Народився у вишиванці,” which means a person was born wearing vyshyvanka, used to emphasize good luck and the ability to survive in any situation.

“The vyshyvanka not only speaks of its Ukrainian origin but also of the particular region in which it was made. The knowing eye could detect where a person hailed from by the clothes on their back. Embroidery is thus an important craft within Ukraine and different techniques exist to suit local styles with their own particular patterns and colours. Traditionally, the thread was coloured according to local formulas using bark, leaves, flowers, berries and so on. In this way, the local environment is literally reflected in the colour of the embroidery.”

— JJ Gurga, Echoes of the Past: Ukrainian Poetic Cinema and the Experiential Ethnographic Mode

I am forever grateful to Beth for the gift to create with my mom, to create with her mom, and to be a part of creating magic together with other women – much like the generations who did it before us, and the generations who will do it after.

Thread of Life