Winter Wanderland 2023

Carvers

Victor Dagatan (Phillipines/USA)
Victor was born in a small village of in the region of Paetne Laguna on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, where for generations fathers have taught their sons the fine art of wood carving which made this village famous across the world. Victor and his four younger siblings were exposed to this craft; at an early age he was already helping his dad in the simpler tasks of preparing the wood. At twenty, after obtaining his Hospitality and Culinary Degree at the polytechnic school in Manila he joined the Holiday Inn corporation for a two years training program. At the end of his first year his exceptional artistic skills were obvious to the management team which offered him a full time Kitchen Artist position. He moved from there to Marriott Hotels, and on to his current position at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lake in Orlando. Through sheer hard work, determination, and multiple layers of warm clothing, Victor has been able to adapt his wood carving skills to the heavy and physically demanding world of ice carving. He has displayed his skills in multiple competitions all over the World, from Poland to Alaska to Lake Louise in Banff.

In 2014 he was part of the international group of expert ice carvers which was officially invited to dazzle the World with multiple gigantic sculptures. In 2016 he joined the U.S. Team for the 2017 Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie. During the 2017 Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon France, Victor earned the trophy rewarding the best ice carver. Today Victor lives with his wife and two daughters in Orlando, Florida.

His talent, expertise, and modesty are legendary and he summarizes his mission in these few words:

”Always tackle the challenges with an open mind and team spirit. Through trials and errors success will prevail”.

Instagram: @victordagatan

Corby Pearce (Canada)

Corby is co-owner and Chef of Evolve Specialty Catering, serving Manitoba’s film and stage crews and visiting artists. He studied art out of high school, and found a home in food and sculpture in many media. Corby started carving ice in 2000, more good experiences (he says) than accomplishment. He had some smaller competition victories, and decent placing in good groups of carvers; he carved beside Junichi Nakamura of Japan in his first ever competition. He was inspired by Nakamura who immediately set the bar, not for how good you had to be, but for how good one could be, and how far you could push the limits of the medium. Corby has attended Winterlude in Ottawa (from 2003 to 2012), Ice on Whyte in Edmonton, as well as events in Green River Wyoming, Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, Vancouver, Fort St John, Lake Louise and Winnipeg.

Most of his inspiration comes from nature. He believes that “There’s more beautiful things occurring in nature than our minds could ever come up with. From there, it’s just about where our imagination takes it.”

Instagram: @whatcorbycooks

Chris Pancoe (Canada)

Chris is a multimedia artist with a penchant for working with clay and found materials. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba and Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota. He has taken part in residencies at The Pueblo Español in Barcelona, Spain and The Red Lodge Clay Centre in Montana, U.S.A. He has taught ceramics/sculpture at Art City, The University of Manitoba, The University of Minnesota and at Inverhills Community College in Minnesota. He has exhibited his work locally, nationally and internationally, and taken part in numerous creative residencies all around the world. He has been Sculpture and Ceramic Technician at The University of Manitoba, and now he is Director of Special Projects at the fabrication collective Anvil Tree.

Instagram: @anvil_tree @chrispancoe