Having Faith In Collecting
PORTRAYING ONESELF THROUGH THE ART OF COLLECTING
Story and photos by Devin Holterman
A self proclaimed “ugly” collection of Christmas decorations has many meanings for one collector. It helps illustrate who he is, what he represents and at the same time helps him connect with his religious beliefs. This collection, is much more than it seems.
Once realizing he wanted a Christmas tree, Hrycun, still somehow unknown, ended up with seven of them and a wide variety of ornaments Seven trees could constitute a small forest for most. Throw Christmas in front of the last comment and things suddenly change. Seven Christmas trees is a different story, not a forest but nonetheless not that common. In this case, Christmas decorating doesn’t end with seven trees, a large collection of other ornaments are packed together in close proximity awaiting the appropriate date to light the house and remind everyone of the holiday season.
Dustin Hrycun didn’t start his collection with seven trees. He started with just one, a second came from his grandmother, a third from a friend for his birthday, and thus over time one tree turned to seven.
What spurs such a collection to form?
Hrycun, a professional counselor, has an ever-growing Christmas ornament collection, powered by his non-conformal attitude and a special connection to God.
Although he thinks he inherited the need to decorate for Christmas from his parents, he’s grown tired of the over commercialization of the season and is driven to form a collection unlike any other, focusing on the “right kind of ugly.”
“Being different and unique, and we all are, can sometimes be a lonely place because no-one fully understands us.”
“People are so caught up in this ideal perfection, Ikea stuff, and then everyone ends up with the same stuff and we all fit this mold. Why do I have to fit the mold?”
Enter a level of ugliness. The ornaments come from places of different origins, sale shelves, garage sales, and some are gifts, but Hrycun has to see something special in each of the ornaments before they can stand next to the existing collection.
“I have had a couple of people, knowing my theme, give me some decorations and while they were ugly they were not the right kind of ugly,” he says.
There is much more to the collection of trees and ornaments than meet the eye, inside the randomness and ugliness lies a piece of what Hrycun calls `his inner self´. The tree tends to reflect and portray his attitude and uniqueness in life.
“Every decoration that I put on my tree somehow has the ability to portray some piece of my inner self. My collection can never be like anyone else’s because no-one can think exactly how I do, and be drawn to the same things as me.”
This notion has left the top of his main Christmas tree undecorated. There are no angels or stars simply because the right piece has yet to appear.
The collection also helps connect Hrycun with God. His unique assortment is constantly misunderstood and he’s come to expect questions of why he pursues such a collection. However Hrycun has also stopped expecting people to understand his collection and knows not every person will see the same level of comfort in each decoration that graces his tree. After all, the idea of a collection is a very personalized notion, not many understand his collection and in fact he might not completely understand it and all the elements it encompasses, but this only strengthens his connection to God.
“Being different and unique, and we all are, can sometimes be a lonely place because no-one can fully understand us. God understands me, even where I don’t understand myself, he created me and knows the number of hairs on my head.”
Even though he may not know the full meaning of his collection, Hrycun is well aware it spurs a special connection with God. He wrote of this connection to friends and family in a 2007 holiday letter:“My Christmas tree is filled with random ornaments, some of which may indeed not match, but it is in this randomness and in the differences that I can be reminded of my need to be connected with God.”
