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Pysanki, Ukrainian decorated egg, 2006
Carol Kostecki (b. 1943)
Montague Center, Massachusetts
Resist-dyed goose egg
3 7/8 x 2 1/4 in. diam.
Collection of the artist
Photography by Jason Dowdle
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A substantial population of descendants of Polish and Ukrainian immigrants call the Pioneer Valley home. Among the most cherished cultural expressions in this community are specially decorated eggs associated with the season of Easter. To make them Carol Kostecki uses a stylus called a kistka to apply wax, which resists the dye she is adding. The designs on these pysanki include imagery and color symbolism reflecting Catholic belief as well as pre-Christian Ukrainian and Polish culture.
Kostecki, who was born and raised in nearby Greenfield, is of French-Canadian, German, and Abenaki descent. Her husband William's heritage is Polish, and with him she became a communicant at the Polish parish of Our Lady of Czestochowa in nearby Turners Falls. After taking classes at a local Ukrainian parish, Carol went on to apprentice with Father Paul Luniw of Saint Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Terryville, Connecticut.
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