LARISSA RAPHAEL
Lial'ka Motanka
Larissa Raphael has been a museum educator in New York City for 15 years and is passionate about teaching and encouraging people to be responsive and open to the power of visual and material culture. Her love of motanka dolls grew out of her desire to use scraps of materials and threads from her various sewing, knitting, crocheting, weaving and embroidery projects. After a while, making motanky became an obsession and a key aspect of her artistic practice. Her other folk pursuits include singing Ukrainian folk songs with Ukrainian Village Voices (NYC) and gardening.