PRAIRIE, PILE OF BONES AND STRAWBERRY (PLATE)

glazed ceramic

diameter: 15.5 in. (39.4 cm)

Price Realized:

1320.00 CAD.

INCLUDES BUYER’S PREMIUM

Notes:

signed & dated

Cicansky, a passionate organic gardener, recalls collecting bones for the garden as a youngster. On the theme of bones, he has said: “The prairie grasslands that fed the millions of bison for 10,000 or so years now feeds and inspires me. The bison bodies and manure fed the grasslands, kept the grassland soil healthy.” These bison were virtually wiped out after settlement, their bones becoming a lucrative “crop”, shipped east by the trainload to eastern factories to be used in fertilizer and china. Cicansky’s home town of Regina was originally referred to by the name “Pile o’ Bones”, in reference to the accumulation of bison bones found along Waskana Creek. The reference is bittersweet.

The Mackenzie Art Gallery (Regina) recently held a retrospective exhibition to honour Cicansky’s 50-year career: “Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe” (June-October 2018).