Originally from Saskatchewan, where he made films and videos in Saskatoon’s vibrant punk and parallel art scenes, Nikolai's work covers all genres and often combines found footage, music and experimental visual effects, stylized staging and dream-like experimental narratives. He is an early pioneer of video art in the Canadian prairies, and was a founding member of both the Open Air Audio Visual Co-op (1984) and Video Vérité Artist Centre (1989) of Saskatoon (now PAVED). Since 1981, he has produced over fifty videos and films, which have screened and received awards around the world. His practice has also included still photography and experimental music.