Ivaan Kotulsky was born to Ukrainian parents interned in a Nazi slave labour camp near Köln (Cologne) Germany in 1944.  After the liberation, Ivaan and his family lived in Germany as refugees for four years.   The family was sponsored to Canada in 1949 by a blacksmith and his family who lived in Smoky Lake, in Northern Alberta.

In 1951, the Kotulsky family settled in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto.  Ivaan was a Canadian Tom Sawyer, playing on the banks of the Don River.   The family relocated to downtown Toronto, where Ivaan attended Harbord Collegiate.  He joined the Camera Club, quickly becoming an award-winning photographer.

Ivaan attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, where he studied Photographic Arts.   After graduation, he began to work at Maclean Hunter Publishing, first as Staff Photographer and later as Chief Photographer.  During his days at Maclean Hunter, he photographed such luminaries as Pierre Trudeau, Queen Elizabeth II, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and legendary photographer Yousuf Karsh.

In 1970, Ivaan was sent on assignment by Chatelaine magazine to Western Canada.  He revisited the blacksmith in Smoky Lake, Alberta, and became so fascinated by the properties of molten metal that he began to experiment with metalsmithing himself.  

Although he continued to enjoy photography as a hobby, Ivaan dedicated his life to metal art and in 1973 left Maclean Hunter to pursue his passion full time.    In 1979, Ivaan found a mentor in the legendary Carol Rapp, a driving force on the Contemporary Collection Committee at the Art Gallery of Ontario, who recognized his extraordinary talent and creative eye.  Ivaan created a body of work especially for the AGO’s Tutankhamun exhibit in 1979, followed by a highly successful solo exhibition at the Ontario Crafts Council.

Ivaan continued to work in metal arts, making jewellery and sculpture, designing and creating a series of star-shaped brooches for the Toronto International Film Festival, and a gryphon sculpture, which was commissioned by The Advocates’ Society as their Award of Justice.  In 1996, Ivaan won two National Magazine Awards, a Gold and a Silver, for his photojournalism essay, No Fixed Address, published by Toronto Life magazine.

A series of strokes starting in 2000 led to Ivaan’s eventual paralysis.  Nonetheless he continued to create art until December 2008, when Ivaan became the first Canadian to undergo a pioneering neurosurgical procedure, the ELANA Bypass, to close off a damaged artery in his brain.  Although the bypass was successful, Ivaan suffered a massive stroke during surgery, and died on December 6, 2008.

Ivaan is survived by his wife, Eya, who continues to produce his art using the moulds and designs that he preserved so meticulously during his 40 years of creating beautiful things.  Ivaan’s ongoing legacy is the exquisite metal art that was his life’s passion.