NEW CANAAN — Artist Olga Pilyuhina, a traditional tapestry artist living in eastern Ukraine, had to store her tapestries in four different places to protect them from Russian shelling.
But she managed to get some of them out of the country to the US, where they will be exhibited for the first time at the Carriage Barn Art Center in New Canaan.
Her tapestries feature bright colors and animals – a unicorn standing in a field of plants, birds in flight, flowers arching towards the sky, an apple orchard and a tapestry of the Last Supper scene she completed last year.
Piljuhina has been making tapestries all her life – she grew up in a creative family and in the town where she grew up, Rešetilivki, tapestry making was a traditional craft. She exhibited her works all over Ukraine and Europe, and last year she was declared an honorary master of decorative arts of Ukraine by the Ukrainian president. He also teaches at the Poltava Polytechnic University.
Her tapestries begin as a pencil sketch, which she then transforms into a full-size color model of what the tapestry will eventually look like. She dyes the woolen threads in different colors and then begins the process of weaving the design.
Pilyuhina wrote in the article that her tapestries reflect life, generational ties and how human beings fit into the wider society.
“My tapestries are reflections of history, culture, tradition and their development; they are about the present, the past and the future; about who we are and where we are going; about the human soul’s desire to know the truth, self-improvement; love that inspires; love for the homeland and admiration for the world around us, intelligently created and filled with love,” she wrote.
But Piljuhina is concerned about the future of the art form and how to pass on her skills to young people.
“In today’s dark times for Ukraine, it is difficult to maintain the continuity of teaching and practice. Sheep farming and yarn production are also threatened. Human thoughts are preoccupied with survival rather than art. Even before the war, state funding for the arts decreased every year. Now, when everything is collapsing, Ukraine risks losing its culture and traditions,” Pilyuhina wrote.
Yet Pilyunhin’s artwork still reflects hope. A tapestry she completed this year, depicting a unicorn standing in a field of plants with the sun in the background, is titled “Birth of the Dawn.”
“Even after the darkest night, the dawn always comes,” Pilyunhina wrote on Facebook under a photo of the tapestry.
The exhibition will be open from July 16 to 30 at the Carriage Barn Arts Center. A formal reception will be held on Sunday, July 17, from 3 to 5 p.m.
In addition to the works in the exhibition, it will be possible to order additional pieces of Pilyunhin’s work on the gallery’s website.
