Larysa Bernhardt
Larysa Bernhardt was born and spent her youth in the Ukraine.
Her embroidery skills were learnt from her mother, just like she learned from hers. Her fascination with old tapestries goes way back and rooted in her childhood memories of her grandma‘s house in thriving and busy Ukrainian settlement Pokrovs’ke where stucco walls were hung with religious icons, darkened paintings, and tapestry wall hangings. It almost felt like leaving the wall naked was a sin, and a naked floor was another one.
“We usually would get to grandmas late at night and I'd be asleep after long car ride and in the morning I open my eyes to a riot of images dancing across the walls, overlooked by solemn saints in their gilded frames, with dried bunches of fragrant flowers tucked behind them. Childhood memories, a fairytale, a dreamer’s dream. Sometimes if you're just lucky enough you get to take them with you through the years.“