Unofficial translation by Viktoriia Marko, used with permission
February 28, 2024
Since 2019, at the request and with the blessing of the Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Anna Mycyk, Canadian iconographer of Ukrainian origin, has been working on writing icons of 12 religious feasts, which will be displayed for commemoration on the tetrapod of the Patriarchal Cathedral.
I bring to your attention a conversation with Anna about the depth and authenticity of the Eastern icon, many years’ experience of living in Canada, family traditions, the Ukrainian Church and its identity, the role and significance of icon writing in her life and for the family, as well as the work on icons for the main Cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and the spiritual connection of Ukrainians abroad with the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
— Anna, please tell us about yourself.
I am a Canadian iconographer. I was born in 1951 in the city of Bradford in England. I moved to Toronto (Canada) together with my parents and two younger sisters at the end of 1963. I received my art education first in high school, and then at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, where I was engaged in painting and applied art.
— How and when did you become interested in icon writing?
After graduating from my formal education in 1970, I worked in the field of graphics for 2 years. Afterwards, I went on an exploration trip to Europe. My icon fascination was born in my childhood due to the many years’ background of my church life and contemplation of icons; and in practice it blossomed since my visit to the Byzantine Museum in Athens, Greece. There, for the first time in my life, I saw a real icon, and I was very moved by its image. Hence, I started learning to write icons correctly. It was a long, lasting, but very exciting process.
— Tell us, please, about your family, your husband…
I married Taras in 1975. At that time, he was a student of the medical institute. Later, with four children, we moved to Saskatoon, Canada, where I continued to develop my icon writing by participating in the “Windows to the East” training course at the local university. Now we have four grandchildren. My husband is a heart surgeon. He is a doctor, but he likes to write pysanky (easter eggs). He has a good sense of art. He loves paintings very much. In our house, we have the works of many Ukrainian artists, which we bought in Ukraine. We are very happy with these art works. Obviously; we love our icons very much. For the past 25 years, I have been actively participating in workshops on iconography.
“Although we are far away, internally we feel a strong sense of unity with Ukraine”
— What are your family traditions as Ukrainians in Canada?
Our traditions are mostly connected with church holidays. For example, on Christmas Eve, we follow the traditions that our parents taught us. We are waiting for the first star before sitting down to the table. We prepare 12 lean dishes. Grandchildren look forward and love when their grandfather throws kutia (Christmas wheat dish) to the ceiling. We bring didukh (Ukrainian wheat sheaf) into the house. And most importantly, we carol all evening. We also remember our ancestors, and now the fallen Heroes of Ukraine. Although we are far away, internally we feel a strong sense of unity with Ukraine. We are worried and we are with you in our thoughts and prayers.
On Easter, we write pysanky, prepare Easter baskets with paska (Easter non-sweet bread), babka (Easter sweet bread), sausage and take them for blessing to the church. This is a wonderful tradition. We also preserve wedding traditions, baptism, and the Christian funeral rite. There are so many of us here who preserve Ukrainian traditions.
— The current war poses the challenge of assimilation to many Ukrainians. How do you manage to maintain contact with Ukrainian culture and feel yourself a Ukrainian for so many years? How to remain conscious Ukrainians in a foreign country in order to integrate, but not assimilate?
First of all, we stay together as a community. It is much easier when there is a Ukrainian Church. Then we regularly gather for prayer and communicate. We also have a Ukrainian school, museums, choirs, dance ensembles where children learn our traditional dances. We used to publish magazines in the Ukrainian language, like “Новий Шлях” (“New Way”), and others.
Now I noticed that the Internet plays a very important role for me and my family. We watch many interesting channels and bloggers about culture and learn a lot about our culture directly from Ukraine. You can even practice the Ukrainian language. They show how Ukrainian was once spoken, how Russification affected it, and what words are being introduced now. Among them are many that my parents spoke. It is very interesting. We thought it was an old language, but it turns out that it is our Ukrainian, which is perhaps better preserved in Canada than in Ukraine. The church, where you can gather, and the Ukrainian school, where children learn the language and traditions, help the most.
— Which parish do you belong to?
I belong to St. George’s Cathedral Parish here in Saskatoon. It is very beautifully painted with icons. My inspiration for icon writing gained strength when the church authorized me to write two icons: the 27 Blessed New Martyrs of Ukraine and the Blessed New Martyr Omelian Kovch. By the way, on September 20, 2012, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, visiting Saskatoon, blessed the newly built “Musee Ukraina Museum”, which I head. On that occasion, we presented him with the first icon that I wrote – Saint Andrew the First-Called.
— Who is a model of iconography for you?
Vira Senchuk, the representative of the Byzantine-Renaissance stylistic synthesis, the artist, the author of the highly artistic icon of the Canadian Mother of God, is a model for me. It was she who had the greatest influence on my development, the theological understanding of sacred art and the ancient technique of tempera.
— What is the significance of icon writing for your family?
Our family show great respect and value to icon writing. We have many icons. It reminds us that we are not alone, that prayer is with us. This is a reminder that we can always contemplate God, see the depth of our faith, and how wide God has created the world. Art, in particular icon writing, allows us to go to another time dimension and remember that there are holy people there. The icon reminds us that God is with us. Contemplating it helps to distance ourselves from the anxieties and worries that we experience.
— What is an icon? How would you explain to your grandchildren if they asked?
Oh, grandchildren often come to my workshop, watch me writing icons and ask me about it!
First of all, I show them that an icon is not a picture. Each one has a story and meaning. We look at different books that show how icons looked once and how they look now. I show what my icon is and how it differs from those we see in books. I also show the process itself, share what is needed for this. We use a board, canvas, levkas, and then an egg yolk. The components of the icon are natural. I see that the grandchildren are very enthusiastic about it. They have already tried to write, because children like to repeat what they see. This is how they write; I tell them what to do next.
I have experience teaching icon writing to small groups. I pass it on to students every year, conducting courses in the city of Saskatoon, where I still have my workshop. A group of 10 people is formed. During the week we gather, pray and write an icon. Everyone writes the same icon. This is a very good time for spiritual renewal, because people leave their usual lifestyle for this week. Course participants are Canadians of various Christian faiths. Most people are interested in the icon as a prayer. They rarely come to paint it as a picture.
“The icon helps us see God in another person”
— How does the icon contribute to prayer?
A person should concentrate and feel peace in front of the icon. We don’t just contemplate it, we participate in it. Therefore, it is important to feel relaxed. Prayer can be out loud or in the silence of the heart without words, only in contemplation. When I write an icon, I feel calm. Time passes, and I do not notice when and where it went. There is a lot of depth in the icon.
If we, contemplating, can feel the presence of a saint or God, then we also feel that there are people around us and they have light in themselves. We see that there is God in a human. It’s interesting that we can see it. And the icon helps us in this. We see people in a completely different light if we look at them after contemplating the icon.
— What is your favorite icon?
My favorite is the Vyshgorod icon of the Mother of God. I had the opportunity to see it. I was in its presence. This icon was exported from Ukraine. In the 12th century, it returned from Tsargorod to Vyshgorod. Now it is in the Tretyakov Gallery
— How did it happen that an iconographer from Canada became the writer of icons for the Patriarchal Cathedral?
In 2019, we decided that it was time to go to Ukraine, because we had not been there for 5 years. When we were getting ready, I thought that I should take an icon with me. I had a slightly larger Nativity icon that I finished the day before. I wanted to give it to someone. I needed to give something of myself. What am I rich in? Rich in the fact that I am a Ukrainian woman who grew up in our very valuable and deep traditions, among which are also church singing and icons. What the most valuable can I give? Icon. It happened so that when we arrived, His Beatitude Sviatoslav was in Lviv and there was an opportunity to present the icon to him personally. This was a very moving time for us. I myself could not believe that I was able to meet him.
— Did everything start with this encounter?
Yes, His Beatitude Sviatoslav asked me to write all 12 festive icons for the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv. I was very moved by such a request from the Head of the Church. It is a great honor for me.
—In one of the interviews, His Beatitude Sviatoslav said: “The prayer that this (Patriarchal) Cathedral prays gives us an understanding of how to further complete it. It was a prayer matrix in which the idea of vision was born, how we should build the iconostasis according to those architectural conditions. This is how everything else is born in the Patriarchal Cathedral: the encounter with the light of the resurrected Christ opens up prospects for the service of our Church both in Kyiv, in Ukraine, and in the context of the global presence of our Church throughout the world.” Do you feel an encounter with the light of the resurrected Christ when you work on icons for the Cathedral?
The light of the resurrected Christ gives us energy and courage to go forward and not be afraid of the darkness that tries to distract us from our goal – an honest and responsible life. Where our people are, there is our Church. Due to various reasons in the history of Ukraine, we are scattered all over the world. In order to work on icons, I need to feel the light of the resurrected Christ.
— How much more work is needed to complete all the icons?
The first icon I wrote and sent to the Cathedral is the Descent into Hades. His Beatitude Sviatoslav asked for this icon first. I understand that it is not included in the 12 icons. Most of the icons have already been written, five of them are already in the Cathedral. I sent them to Kyiv by mail. I have an icon of the Annunciation and Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary at home.
I also want to present an icon of the Protection of the Mother of God (Pokrov), because I feel that Ukraine needs it very much right now.
I still have to write: the Entrance of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the Nativity of the Mother of God, the Ascension of the Lord, God the Saviour Jesus Christ, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross and the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God.
“By uniting in prayer with the Patriarchal Cathedral, we strengthen the spiritual connection with our Church in Ukraine”
— Why and by what is our Cathedral, the heart of our Church, our Christian life and faith, important for you personally?
The Patriarchal Cathedral is very symbolic. It is newly built and continues to be built, just like our Ukraine. It unites in prayer the entire Church, all the faithful. It is very felt when we come to Kyiv. Visiting the Cathedral, we feel its global dimension.
I am very touched that I have the opportunity through the Internet to connect in prayer with the Patriarchal Cathedral, which goes far beyond the borders of Kyiv, and comes to Canada. We feel it every time we watch “Живе Телебачення”(“Live TV”), when we connect with the people who gather there, and with those who, like us, connect in prayer through the online broadcast. This is how we strengthen the spiritual connection with our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine. This is our future!
— In your opinion, what role does this parental Home of our Church play for the Ukrainian people in wartime today?
We know that there is such a spiritual Center – our Cathedral, that from there the word of the Head of the Church resounds to everyone in the world. The Patriarchal Cathedral gives us hope! People understand that they have something to fight for. We realize that we have both the Church and faith, and no one can take that away from us. People in Ukraine stand firm and with their lives restrain the evil that has attacked Ukraine.
Interview by Khrystyna Potereiko
The UGCC Department for Information