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Nelya and her son with a tapestry commissioned by the art museum in Cherkasy. . . A closer look at the weaving.
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This three-piece tapestry, Kyiv-Rus, is one of Nelya's largest works. Each piece is 77 inches high, with the two side panels 57 inches wide and the center panel 50 inches wide. The weaving is very fine, with the reverse side nearly identical to the front. Below is a photo of the artist with her triptych tapestry exhibited in the Polk County Heritage Gallery in Des Moines Iowa. It now hangs in a private home in western USA. (click on photo below for a higher-resolution picture):
The subject of the weaving is Kyiv Rus, the historical ancestor of Ukraine. This was a powerful state that dominated eastern Europe from the 10th through the 13th century. The tapestry symbolically shows the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity, the building of the first churches, and the adoption of pagan symbols into Slavic life. The sun, representing the Divine Being, is white light and warmth. Mermaids or bird-sirens are associated with the goddess of fertility and symbolize heavenly moisture, rains, and dews. They bring human happiness. A hare is a symbol of the power of reproduction and fertility. The god of hares protects the plant kingdom. The wolf symbolizes the struggle against the evils of the world. The wolf is benevolent to people and to life. The deer is a symbol of harmony and beauty, the unity of the micro and the macrocosm.
Here's a smaller-sized Founding of Kyiv tapestry based on the very large Kyiv-Rus weaving. It measures 30" by 48" and is very fine-textured.
These can hang together as shown or each one alone would make a colorful accent for a room. The size of each piece is 33 inches high plus the 8-inch brown fringe on the bottom and 28 inches wide not counting the side fringe. Design elements of the tapestries are woven separately and then very skillfully sewn together as a picture puzzle. Each hanging is finished on the back with a heavy linen cloth, and each one weighs 2.75 pounds.
This beautiful weaving is 58 inches high and 42.5 inches wide. It weighs six pounds. This is a coarser weave than the above tapestries, with sisal threads and small amounts of aluminized mylar woven into the front side for a textured effect.
Kozak Mamai is 45.5 inches in height and 28 inches wide. This meticulously woven wool tapestry represents a Kozak (Cossack) warrior from Zaporizhia. He's always portrayed at rest, sometimes playing the kobza (a forerunner of the Ukrainian national insturment, the bandura.) Typically, Mamai is depicted with his weapon, with horilka (vodka), a pipe, the kobza, and his saddled horse waiting for its rider and ready to go. Mamai sits under the oak tree, which is a symbol of strength and longevity of the Kozak line. The oak also symbolizes Kozak freedom, and the falcon on the tree represents human courage.
Woven from wool with sisal, it's a very romantic depiction of the traditional Midsummer's Night festivities.
For more information about these works, write L.Hodges@prodigy.net or phone 515-292-1700.
Go to Linda's Ukrainian Language, Culture and Travel Page.