Sofika Pysanky and Ceramics

03/21/2026

Teşekkür ederim.
Having crossed oceans and many countries' borders, eggs from Turkey have arrived!!!
For more information on the "Pysanka: A Symbol Of Hope" installation please visit- https://pysanka.ukrainianinstitute.org/?_ga=2.266374669.2041671594.1774101552-539127642.1771773462

03/06/2026

Four years ago, I conceived of “The Pysanka: A Symbol Of Hope” installation. What began as a small act of cultural diplomacy and defiance turned into an honor of a lifetime. For it has been my honor as curator to unwrap each and every pysanka that is donated, lovingly created and ingeniously wrapped; my honor to read the beautiful, deep-felt notes and letters from people of every background and all walks of life; my honor to witness an emergence of a new branch of the pysanka tradition which I call "war eggs". The first 3 pysanky that arrived from Quebec, Canada in March of 2022 are now accompanied by more than 1000 others from 18 different countries and they continue to arrive. This living, ever changing installation will remain until the day Ukraine celebrates a just Victory. Then true to its symbolic meaning of rebirth, the pysanky will return to their ancestral homeland of Ukraine as it rises from the ashes of war.
For more information about “The Pysanka: A Symbol of Hope” and instructions on how to donate your own pysanka, please visit: https://pysanka.ukrainianinstitute.org/...

We are all Ukrainian. An invitation to join me in an ancestral response to the aggressor! Please read to the end.

Everyone defends themselves with weapons they know best. As a pysanka artist my weapon is an ordinary egg.

Our Ukrainian ancestors wrote pysanky asking ancient dieties for protection from evil and help with everyday life. But more importantly, they believed that these fragile eggs decorated with magical symbols, could save the world. Their legend says that as long as people created pysanky, evil - personified as a monster who lived chained inside a deep cave - would be kept at bay and their world would continue to exist.
During this turbulent time I am using my fragile, delicate weapon to defeat the evil monster. But I need your help.
I ask all people who care, including children, to create one pysanka with a TRADITIONAL Ukrainian motif ( scroll down to link). Under the auspices of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations (WFUWO) and in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York these pysanky will be collected and incorporated into an art installation at the Ukrainian Institute of America. Together, we must have faith that these delicate little works of art decorated with potent ancient symbols will fortify Ukraine’s spiritual defenses against evil and ultimately will triumph over it. True to its symbolic meaning of rebirth, the pysanky will return to their ancestral homeland of Ukraine as it rises from the ashes of war.
Please send your pysanka (blown out eggshell) as soon as it is ready to:
Pysanka Project,
C/O Ukrainian Institute of America
2 East 79th street,
New York, NY 10075
or
Hand deliver to the Ukrainian Institute of America at 2 East 79th Street in New York City, during business hours: Thursday- Sunday, noon to 6 pm or by appointment. 212-288-8660
Please include a note with your name, city and country.
More details to follow.

03/01/2026

Today is the first day of Meteorological Spring, however, New York is again experiencing snow showers. I, just as my jizhachok, want spring!
2025, peacock egg, "Їжачок в капелюшку чекає на весну" batik, Egg design created in the artistic style of Maria Prymachenko.

02/23/2026

Kazimir Malevich was born in Kyiv on this day in 1878. His art was very much influenced by Ukrainian folk-art, and he had contact with folk artists. A question I asked myself: had Malevich seen a Hutzul pysanka with a deer incorporated in the pattern (and there is no evidence that he had seen a Hutzul pysanka) how would the artist interpret that design onto an egg. This triptych is how I, in turn, interpreted how Malevich might have depicted and deconstructed a deer design using the fundamentals of geometry of the suprematism art movement
Chicken eggs, 2025, "Triptych with Deer" traditional batik technique

02/22/2026

Thank-you Sarah Farnsworth for the 2025 interview for "Ukraine: Stories from the Frontlines" newsletter.

February 24th marks four years of the Russian brutal war against Ukraine. May this be the last year that Ukraine needs to fight for its national identity, culture and homeland. I have interviewed NGO leaders, artists and others for the Ukraine: Stories from the Frontlines newsletter and asked this question “When you hear the word “Ukraine” what do you think of? Their answers are personal to their experience. And each one gives a window into the strength of the people standing up for their nation. My word? Or words? Respect. Honor. Victory.
Sofika Zielyk, Cultural Diplomat, Artist
JT: When you hear the word "Ukraine" what do you think of?
A feeling. An identity. I am a proud American-born daughter of parents who fled the communists and N***s during WWII, spent time in displaced persons camps in Germany and then emigrated to the United States. As they embraced America and all she offered, they never lost their Ukrainian identity, its language, its art, its culture. So, Ukraine is always with me, deep in the core of my identity. Creating pysanky is an extension of that identity. I started when I was 5 with my mother, and my commitment to practicing the art and sharing it with others is my way of ensuring this Ukrainian art form, so much a part of my identity, continues and evolves.
Read the full interview here:

Email from Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications Your daily news briefing on real, human stories from Ukraine. Welcome to the Ukraine: Stories from the Frontlines weekday newsletter, compiled and d

01/12/2026

Многая Літа Марії Примаченко! (1909-1997)
Chicken egg, 2023 "Чорний звір несе квіти" design created in the artistic style of Maria Prymachenko.

12/24/2025

Христос Раждається! Славімо Його!
Madona and Child, Jumbo Canadian goose egg, 2018, batik

12/18/2025

All done!

12/15/2025

On the first New York snow fall of the season. Apparently, Maria Prymachenko didn't like winter. Please listen.
Chicken eggs, designs created in the artistic style of Maria Prymachenko. traditional batik technique

09/03/2025

I am thrilled and very proud that my artwork "Defiance" is included in the book "An Opinionated Guide- Folk Art" published by Hoxton Mini Press, London. Excerpt from the text- "Artist Sofika Zielyk borrows iconography – the anonymous, armless silhouette – from Ukrainian born avant-garde painter Kazimir Malevich, who was persecuted by Stalin for criticizing the Soviet regime. Zielyk was inspired to create this pysanka in September 2022, after the full- scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Upon seeing images
of a mass grave discovered in Izium, Ukraine, where hundreds of
Ukrainian victims were shot with their hands tied behind their backs; she memorialized this tragedy by evoking Malevich’s work of a century prior. Zielyk reminds us that artists have continually fought against brutal regimes. Pysanky are a symbol of this ongoing resistance and cultural preservation."

08/23/2025

Another amazing donation to The Pysanka: A Symbol Of Hope installation which I have the honor of curating. For more information about this project please visit- https://pysanka.ukrainianinstitute.org/