Side by Side by Side

My first exposure to Ukranian motanka dolls was at my Birmingham niece’s house. She had purchased some from Ukranian  artists to support them in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine. I was intrigued by the dolls but didn’t know much about them so I was excited when I saw that Natalia Olefirenko (of Embroidery Art by Nat), a Ukranian living in Canada, was teaching a Motanka Doll workshop as part of the Making Zen Online Retreat.

Nat shared some of the history of the dolls explaining that the name motanka comes from the Ukranian word “motaty” which means to wrap or wind and that the dolls are assembled without using a needle or glue. They are created by wrapping the fabric and tying it with thread. She also explained that the symbolic dolls don’t have a face and are either left plain white or wrapped with a cross that represents the sun and the harmony of the universe, connecting the four directions of the world. Many of the dolls are made with traditional Ukranian embroidery patterns including the Trre of Life which represents growth, connection between generations, and the continuity of life.

I had immersed myself in thoughts of wrapping when we were creating the wrapping curriculum in the art studio so the idea of creating a wrapped doll appealed to me. And it seemed fitting to use the embroidery thread I had purchased at the Ukranian National Museum.

Nat showed us how she made her doll and shared a list of You Tube videos made by Ukrainian women demonstrating different ways to make the dolls. At first I just intended to wrap the face and design and embroider a tree of life apron with the Ukranian thread but then I saw the beautiful embroidered blouses some of the YouTubers and their dolls were wearing, I decided my doll needed an embroidered blouse too. And then after I tried few different things with the yarn hair, I decided she needed a bun, not a braid, and an embroidered scarf to cover it. This screenshot from one of the YouTube videos shows a bit of the artist’s embroidered blouse as well as two of the dolls that most inspired mine.

It turned out to be pretty challenging to assemble a doll by wrapping and tying thread around the pieces. I used an empty thread cone for the body and secured the head (made with a rolled up thin strip of fabric inside a square piece of fabric) to the top of it. Then (and this kept happening) after I attached the arms, I tried to adjust them and pushed the head right off!

Eventually I got the hang of it and finally finishing it seemed like something worth celebrating.

I had read about the exhibit “Side by Side” in the Chicago Reader a few weeks earlier. I knew that it was closing soon and going to it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate. The exhibit primarily included photos of  Ukranians living in Chicago by Lilia Kuchma, needlework by her mother Anna Kuchma, and several of Lilia’s woven pieces.

The examples of Ukranian embroidery in the photos were amazing. And so were the embroidery pieces. I couldn’t stop taking photos!

One of the most exciting parts for me was the glass display case which included embroidery thread with a very familiar box!