Intricately and painstakingly decorated, Ukrainian Easter eggs are like brightly-coloured jewels. The age-old tradition of painting and dyeing delicate eggshells for Easter (known as pysanke) requires incredible technique. Anya Zelynski from the Guild of Ukrainian Pysanka Writers of Sydney painstakingly creates some of these multi-coloured works of art.

Easter is a very important time in the Eastern church – Orthodox and Catholic. Like many other Eastern European peoples, Ukrainians present an amazing array of beautiful homemade goods at Easter time, taking them to church to be blessed before breaking the Lenten Fast. Among babkas (tall, sweet, rich brioche breads) and paska (an ornamental yeast bun), there are savoury foods like kolbasi (Ukrainian sausages) eaten with beets and fresh horseradish. But the jewel-like pysanke – batik-decorated eggs – are an art form.

Originally meant as a talisman to ward off evil, keep the family healthy and protect the home from natural disasters, with the advent of Christianity the hand-decorated egg took on a religious significance. It represents the tomb from which Christ rose from the dead to give new life to mankind.

The designs that are painted on the egg in a succession of layers have meanings – triangles represent the Holy Trinity, a fish is a symbol for Christ and deer, horses and rams stand for wealth and prosperity. The ‘writing’ on the dyed egg is done with a special pen dipped into beeswax. This protects the design which appears in the colour underneath the wax. Layers of colour and design are built up by dying the egg again and again once the wax ‘writing’ has hardened. The wax is melted off at the end and varnish applied.

The result is a tiny art form and very delicate because yes, the egg is “blown” to remove the yolk and albumen before the painting process begins.

The Ukrainian Women’s Association runs an Easter market at the Ukrainian Youth Association premises in Church Street, Lidcombe, on Palm Sunday every year. There you can see all sorts of Easter delicacies, including pysanke.