Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe

With the arrival of spring comes an eagerness to put our hands in the dirt. It is the time of year when we naturally think of sowing seeds with the promise that earth and time will yield something magical. For the late Regina artist Victor Cicansky (1935–2025), the garden and the studio could have the same abundance. For over fifty years, Cicansky cultivated an intimate relationship with the life he encountered in his backyard. He leaves behind a body of work which includes surrealist hybrids, early experimental Funk sculptures, ceramic “preserves”, bronze bonsai trees, and benches for gardeners needing rest. With a legacy that could be described as both whimsical and attentive to prairie ecologies at risk, Cicansky’s work celebrated his Romanian-Canadian immigrant roots and his profound joy in anticipating new possibilities through the microcosm of his garden.

Cicansky was born in Regina and studied with noted local ceramist Jack Sures before pursuing graduate studies at the University of California, Davis. Returning home in 1970, Cicansky’s name became synonymous with the Regina Clay Movement. Major public commissions of his work from this era can be found in Saskatoon and Regina, earning him numerous honours including the Order of Canada in 2009.

In 2019, the MacKenzie Art Gallery debuted Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe, a touring retrospective exhibition which brought together over 100 ceramic and bronze works illuminating the range of the artist’s preoccupations. An accompanying illustrated publication edited by the exhibition curators Julia Krueger and Timothy Long (former Head Curator at the MacKenzie) became the first monograph devoted to the complete range of Cicansky’s production. In recognition of Cicanksy’s enduring influence on the artistic communities in this region, we are rescreening the documentary film commissioned by the MacKenzie on the occasion of Cicansky’s retrospective. Directed by Ian Toews of 291 Film Company and weaving together shots of the gallery, the garden, and the studio, the film offers a tender look at the artist’s life and work.

The Gardener’s Universe, 2019, Documentary, 30 minutes.
Produced by 291 Film Company in association with the MacKenzie Art Gallery2020 Leo Awards Nominee
Best Cinematography, Short Documentary Program