The Prairie Apple, 1987 by Victor Cicansky

Provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Corporate Collection, Toronto

Saskatchewan-based artist Victor Cicansky was best known for his ceramic and bronze sculptures, often depicting fruits, vegetables, and garden-related objects with a playful and surreal touch. Cicansky’s work is deeply influenced by his prairie roots, incorporating themes of sustainability, food culture, and the beauty of organic forms. The artist bridges folk art, surrealism, and social commentary, reflecting both personal and cultural narratives in his work. Cicansky’s sculptures frequently reference prairie life, urban gardening, and environmental concerns. His pieces carry a strong connection to place, particularly the Canadian prairies, and often celebrate self-sufficiency and sustainable living.

The artist also created bronze works that play with natural forms in unexpected ways, including this towering sculpture "The Prairie Apple". Standing at over eight feet tall, the slender bronze tree has only two main branches and a few leaves sprouting, but a single dangling ripe apple. Upon closer inspection, we see that the tree trunk is in fact a handle for a shovel in the ground. The sculpture is a prime example of the humourous and surrealist qualities he incorporated into his work. "The Prairie Apple" also has an additional layer of meaning; it was created in 1987 in honour of the artist’s wife Fran who passed away that year, and whom Cicansky referred to as “the apple of his eye”. The single green apple on the tree was to represent Fran’s perfection. This artwork marked the beginning of a decades-long series of bonsai trees, consisting of hundreds of sculptures with various fruits, the apple being his favourite.