The 2023 Canadian Student Art inspiration Challenge

LEFT: Prudence Heward, The Emigrants, c.1928. Oil on canvas, 66 x 66 cm, private collectionRIGHT: Chantel Mei, Diaspora, mixed media on paper, 45.5 x 60.1 cm

The 2023 Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge

Celebrating Canada’s Future Artists

How can we find beauty in the everyday? What are your most cherished surroundings? How do you connect with your neighbours? What are the food traditions in your family? These questions were at the heart of our student challenge this year, prompting young artists in Grades 7 through 12 to create original works inspired by remarkable trailblazers including Daphne Odjig (1919–2016), Alex Colville (1920–2013), and C.D. Hoy (1883–1973). As one of this year’s finalists poetically notes, Canadian artists throughout history hold the power to ignite a “passionate fire for art… that has been passed down to future artists.” The range of this year’s visual responses to those who have come before is a reminder of the creative significance of Canadian art history—and its vital role in passing the torch to our next generation of makers.

Painted portrait of Ukrainian woman carrying young child at airport

Painting of bowl of bibimbap topped with an egg by Joanna Kim

Painting of woman walking down a scenic park path by Chaelyn Han

Painting of table with food and dishes on a colourful tablecloth by Maya Padlewska

Painting of boy in water holding onto a canoe by Wafa Amrouche

Painting of a woman cutting broccoli with swimming pool behind her.

Painting of a bedroom interior with large window looking out onto trees and houses.

Painting of tipi beside water with mountains in background by Beautiful Crier Roan

Painting by Yitong Wang of a young boy at a table on the sidewalk

Mixed media art on paper of food held out by two hands.

Digital illustration of a black girl head and shoulders looking at viewer

Black and white film strip of masked girl showing photos of her mouth

Painting of two girls in a pool change room

Drawing of a statue of Aphrodite with a measuring tape and gold coins in the background

Exhibition

About Prudence Heward

Prudence Heward (1896–1947) was a central figure in the Montreal art world during the inter-war years. Celebrated for her expressionistic use of colour and her unique sculptural forms, Heward’s portraits of defiant modern women are unparalleled.

About the Student's Inspiration

Inspired by Prudence Heward’s painting The Emigrants, Diaspora is a piece that connects the similarities of the struggles that refugees experience throughout time. In my personal interpretation of this piece, I view this as two women immigrating to a new country for better opportunities. When viewing Heward’s painting, you can see the emotion and sentimentality she manages to capture in their faces. I’ve always admired her ability to paint women with such complexity in their portraits despite the public’s disapproval of her depictions. This is why I wanted to communicate the same message with Ukrainian mothers and women seeking refuge in Canada due to the recent war in their homeland. Especially as mothers, the traumatic complexities of war are far more overwhelming. Both paintings show the struggles women face during times of migration.

–Chantel Mei (Grade 9, Webber Academy, Calgary, Alberta)

Portrait painting of two young women in front of water, by Prudence Heward

About Ozias Leduc

Largely self-taught, Ozias Leduc (1864–1955) was one of Quebec’s most important painters. Imbued with modernist principles and yet distinct from artistic trends of his time, his poetic still-life works are a continued source of inspiration.

About the Student's Inspiration

I like Ozias Leduc’s Green Apples. The color of his painting, the liveliness of the apples that appear as if they were actually in front of my eyes, and the harmony of the distant view behind the apple tree are beautiful. I wanted to draw one of my favorite foods inspired by his paintings. Bibimbap came to my mind since it is one of my favourite traditional Korean dishes. It is a dish made by adding various ingredients such as meat and vegetables to rice and mixing it with various seasonings, which results in a unique taste of flavours created by combining different ingredients. I think this is somehow similar to Canada, where diverse people live together to make combination and variety. I imagined a bowl of Bibimbap placed on a wooden table, reminding me of the onions on the table in another Ozias Leduc painting.

–Joanne Kim (Grade 7, Bluenose Academy, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia)

Painting of green apples on tree by Ozias Leduc

Painting of two girls beside a river by Helen McNicoll

About Helen McNicoll

One of the nation’s most prolific artists, Helen McNicoll (1879–1915) garnered acclaim for her bright and sunny representations of rural landscapes, child subjects, and modern female figures—works that helped to popularize Impressionism in Canada.

About the Student's Inspiration

Helen McNicoll, a Canadian artist well known for her outstanding sunny Impressionist landscape paintings, inspired me to interact with my memories through art. The first time I discovered her art, I was amazed by her use of colour to create a quiet ambiance that invited me to engage with the paintings through more than just visual senses. The subtle expressions in her brush strokes bring back my vague nostalgic memories associated with wildlife. The depiction of nature and the subjects tell stories; instead of just viewing, it encourages me to imagine the scenery. I painted my mother and myself walking in Stanley Park because it is still one of my favourite memories. I wanted to cherish the moment by creating it in a painting in McNicoll’s style, allowing me to invite anyone who views it to engage with the artwork, just like how McNicoll’s work inspired me.

–Chaelyn Han (Grade 9, Lord Byng Secondary School, Vancouver, BC)

About Molly Lamb Bobak

Though Vancouver-born Molly Lamb Bobak (1920–2014) was the first Canadian woman appointed as an official war artist, she is revered as a painter of modern life, producing vibrant cityscapes, scenes of domestic interiors, and still-life paintings of flowers with an instinctive use of colour.

About the Student's Inspiration

Molly Lamb Bobak is well known for her interior scenes and still-life paintings, which fascinate me the most within her body of work. The distortions in her painting Still Life Revisited, as well as the colours and motifs in Interior with Moroccan Carpet, were hugely inspiring to me in the creation of my work. Bobak’s distortions equally evoke the work of Paul Cézanne, who has always been a big source of inspiration for me. Le rassemblement represents the simplicity of daily routine that has always captivated me, particularly meal times. They demand to be observed and listened to, and I wanted to reflect the way in which food has the potential to assemble a group of people. Whether in the military in London during the Second World War, or in her role as the first Canadian woman to be appointed an official war artist, Bobak inspires me enormously as an artist and a person.

–Maya Padlewska (Grade 12, École secondaire publique De La Salle, Ottawa, Ontario)

Painting of interior with carpet, by Molly Lamb Bobak

About Anne Savage

Associated with Montreal’s Beaver Hall Group and a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters, Anne Savage’s (1896–1971) landscape paintings reveal her romantic vision of the harmony between humans and the natural world.

About the Student's Inspiration

Anne Douglas Savage always appreciated the beauty of the living and the harmony that can be found in nature—in its movements and rest. She refined the atmosphere of her works, rendering them a little mysterious, like a story with indeterminate adventures. Savage managed to capture the free and rhythmic movement of water, and it is her representation of this life source that inspired me to explore the notion of memory and its restitution. Just like her, I used a predominantly cold palette, which encapsulates the idea of a cliché, or a photo suspended in time. In my work, we can see my little brother in the midst of undulating in the water, a moment altered by colour like a memory is being altered by my subconscious. This painting is a reflection of my gratitude towards this ephemeral moment transformed into a remnant of happiness.

–Wafa Amrouche (Grade 12, École publique secondaire De La Salle, Ottawa, Ontario)

Painting of trees along shoreline with hills in background by Anne Savage

Self-portrait painting of man with red hair wearing shirt and tie by F.H. Varley

About F.H. Varley

Born in Sheffield, England, F.H. (Frederick Horsman) Varley (1881–1969) was a founding member of the influential Toronto-based Group of Seven, and the only member of the Group to specialize in portraiture.

About the Student's Inspiration

From Canadian art history to the present day, I as a striving artist wanted to represent the new age of art for Canadians today. With this acrylic painting I wanted to express the passionate fire for art that past Canadian artists carried with them, that has been passed down to future artists today. This fire is the life we hold for making art, which can ignite a flame within others and can inspire them to be creative in expressing themselves. I was inspired by a self-portrait by Frederick Varley because of how he represented the messy but organized property that light creates with surfaces. I chose myself to be the subject holding a lit candle to represent that passionate fire Canadians carry that I adopted when I came to Canada. I hope to pass this fire down to inspire others to create art too, and ignite that fire within them.

–Aicer Galzote (Grade 11, Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic High School, Regina, Saskatchewan)

About Annie Pootoogook

In 2006, Annie Pootoogook (1969–2016) became the first Inuk artist to win the prestigious Sobey Art Award. Known for her drawings depicting scenes of everyday life in the North, Pootoogook is unmatched in her ability to render personal experiences with stark honesty and thoughtfulness.

About the Student's Inspiration

In the artwork Composition (Plucking the Grey Hair) by Annie Pootoogook, a man sprawls over the crossed legs of a woman as she plucks his grey hairs with tweezers. This work, along with many of Pootoogook’s pieces, captures a snapshot of Inuit life. I feel an undeniable connection to the tenderness of this pencil drawing; the situation is mundane, yet the love is evident. My mother once told me a story about her experience as a new Chinese Canadian immigrant. While raising me and my brother, she would drop me off at home, and rush my brother to swim practice, cutting broccoli at the pool to prepare dinner. In this simple action, my mother illustrates the dedication and love she put into raising me and my brother. Similarly to how Pootoogook demonstrates the tender mundanity of plucking grey hairs, I wanted to feature the compassionate normality of my mother cutting broccoli florets.

–Jamie Li (Grade 11, Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School, Markham, Ontario)

Drawing of a man with head resting on woman's lap by Annie Pootoogook

About Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald

Manitoba artist Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) was characterized by art critics as “the man who looks out of the window,” producing many interior/exterior views that illustrate his skilled methods of observation and convey a deep sense of familiarity and place.

About the Student's Inspiration

Dozing, a painting of the view from my bedroom window, conveys a stationary moment in life. It captures the essence of gloom and drowsiness through the intimate portrayals of bedsheets and curtain drapes. Through my artwork, I explore the hushed atmosphere and introspective moments that occur within private spaces. The play of light and shadow creates a somber mood, evoking a sense of rumination, tranquility, and lethargy. By focusing on everyday objects and their interaction with natural light and the eye, I invite viewers to reflect on the quietude and contemplative moments that occur within the confines of a bedroom. Dozing is a sensation of escaping reality and being absorbed by our surroundings. The acrylic paint and soothing brushstrokes are manipulated to depict the texture of the sheets and curtains. My aim is to evoke a sense of serenity, introspection, and the delicate balance between consciousness and slumber. Dozing is a painting of the peaceful state of mind.

–Vivian Chui (Grade 11, The Study, Montreal, Quebec)

Painting of an interior with window facing trees and houses

Painting of mountains and cloudy sky by J.E.H. MacDonald

About J.E.H. MacDonald

A founding member of the Group of Seven, J.E.H. (James Edward Hervey) MacDonald (1873–1932) travelled extensively throughout Canada. His summer trips to the Rockies between 1924 and 1930 inspired the mountain landscapes that dominated the later stages of his career.

About the Student's Inspiration

I was inspired by J.E.H MacDonald and the art piece Distant Mountain. I admire MacDonald’s artworks and the way he travelled the Rocky Mountains to get inspiration from nature and recreate it by painting it, right then and there. I am inspired by MacDonald’s paintings and all his landscape artworks, as I also enjoy doing landscapes and mountains. When I looked at his artworks, Distant Mountain stood out to me because it reminded me of my grandfather’s home. Growing up my grandfather was my inspiration to start painting. He taught me lots in the short time I had with him. The very first painting I did was a mountain when I was nine; at the same time, he introduced me to acrylic paints and how to use a knife to create the snow on top of a mountain. With this piece, I did it in my own way and added some of my culture, still keeping the main factors of MacDonald’s original work. On the tipi there is a red hand mark; with this touch it is representing the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women), and the orange piece of cloth tied around the tree is to also represent the residential school survivors. I wanted to bring awareness to important subjects and show some of my culture.

–Beautiful Crier Roan (Grade 11, Kisiko Awasis Learning Society, Maskwacis, Alberta)

About C.D. Hoy

C.D. (Chow Dong) Hoy (1883–1973) is one of the earliest Chinese Canadian photographers on record. His portraits reflect the many cross-sections of a diverse community in Quesnel, British Columbia, at the turn of the twentieth century.

About Her Inspiration

In the crowded but cozy alleys of Jiangnan, neighbours are close to each other. I once lived in a neighbourhood in Jiangnan, a city located in the southern part of China, during a summer vacation when I was little. This oil painting, named Accompany, is inspired by an old photograph my father took when we stayed there. The boy and his dog in the picture were our neighbours, and we used to go biking together. I created this painting to reminisce about the harmony between neighbours and my happy childhood. I used contrasting sizes of strokes to create a dynamic, with the finer strokes depicting the lovely rhythm between the two subjects, and the wilder strokes rendering the texture of the wall. The comparison between dark, highly saturated colors and the white wall brings out the subjects. The subtle colours immersed in the white wall and on each object convey the richness of neighbourhood life.

–Yitong Wang (Grade 11, The Study, Montreal, Quebec)

Black and white photo by C.D. Hoy of a Chinese lady standing outside a shop.

About Daphne Odjig

Anishinaabe artist Daphne Odjig (1919–2016) brought Indigenous political issues to the forefront of contemporary art and theory through her paintings and prints featuring a distinct style characterized by curving contours, strong outlines, and overlapping colours and shapes.

About the Student's Inspiration

This artwork reflects the significance of nourishing the spirit through food in Ojibwe culture. In the hands that hold the food are the three vegetables squash, beans, and corn. These vegetables are important—as opposed to the rest of the food in the hands—because they are the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters depict harmony and cooperation and grow exceptionally well when planted together. The Three Sisters are important to the diet of many Indigenous nations across Turtle Island. In the background, the four colours on the Medicine Wheel can be seen. These four colours, white, yellow, red, and black, represent the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical states of being, respectively, all of which are nourished by food. The inspiration for the illustrations inside of the four colours comes from Daphne Odjig’s Woodland style. Overall, this artwork celebrates and emphasizes the connections between the land and food and how each plays a harmonious role in nourishing the spirit.

–Shaylah Shawongonabe (Grade 10, Sudbury Secondary School, Greater Sudbury, Ontario)

Serigraph of abstract figures by Daphne Odjig

Painting of a woman with short hair sitting

About F.H. Varley

F.H. (Frederick Horsman) Varley (1881–1969) produced a number of portraits of his muse, Vera (Olivia) Weatherbie (1909–1977), an artist in her own right.

About the Student's Inspiration

Frederick Varley was a painter known for his landscape paintings, but he also completed numerous portraits. This one in particular, entitled Vera, intrigued me because of its use of colour. The greens, blues, yellows, and pinks are dispersed everywhere on the subject. These are the colours that certain portraitists do not emphasize, but that Varley wanted to reinforce. As well, the work has an Impressionist side in the way that the stroke is brought to the fore. I wanted to make all of this stand out in my own work. My digital illustration represents a woman looking at the spectator from the corner of her eye. What is she thinking? Her thoughts are surrounding her in lines and colours. They dance, mix, and melt together. Finally, without being able to decipher them, we find ourselves fixed by her piercing gaze.

–Naomi van de Hoef (Grade 12, École publique secondaire De La Salle, Ottawa, Ontario)

About Joyce Wieland

Critically examining issues related to the environment, war, nationalism, and women’s rights across a number of media including painting and experimental film, Joyce Wieland (1930–1998) was an influential figure within contemporary Canadian art.

About the Student's Inspiration

Drawing reference from vintage silent film, I created a storyboard of emotions to illustrate the lost language of facial expression during the rise of COVID-19. The pandemic has been incredibly impactful in how it’s changed the way society communicates with one another, relying solely on words rather than facial expressions. By contrast, silent films depend on expression to convey their message. This reversal of situations led me to create a historic, timeless statement, as did Canadian artist Joyce Weiland and her O Canada lithograph from 1970. My piece unravels like a giant filmstrip, with each slide portraying my masked self, holding a sign with a mouth cut out expressing a different emotion. Between each photo, subtitles aid viewers in understanding the emotions I was trying to express. Inspired by Weiland’s visuals of “mouth art,” I aimed to capture the concept of a silent but universal message.

–Tatyanna Wilke (Grade 12, Arts Umbrella, Vancouver, British Columbia)

Lithograph of lipstick impressions on paper by Joyce Wieland

About Alex Colville

Beloved Maritimes artist Alex Colville (1920–2013) is celebrated for achieving an iconic style of painting marked by unified brushwork and carefully arranged compositions that convey symbolism in mundane encounters.

About the Student's Inspiration

Within Alex Colville’s works, the primary element that has always stuck out to me is the distinct sense of unease and subtle anxiety he is able to infuse into every painting, despite otherwise mundane subject matter. In my mind, this is what makes him so distinctive, and the reason his works linger in our minds long after we have seen them. Inherently, pool change rooms are uncomfortable spaces, both in their grime, their hard benches, and the inherent vulnerability of their purpose. As someone who grew up regularly going to public pools, the subtle yet distinct uneasiness within a change room environment, especially as a young person, has long captured my imagination. Using a compositional style inspired by Colville, with one figure looking away and the other glancing back at the viewer, I wanted to address the timeless embarrassment, liminality, and above all unease of the adolescent experience.

–Sophia De Graaf (Grade 12, Glenforest Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario)

Painting of a man in a boat with a woman standing in water

Painting of a woman in a 1930's bathing suit

About Prudence Heward

Portraying its female subject with unflinching honesty, The Bather (1930) was the most controversial painting in Prudence Heward’s (1896–1947) oeuvre during her lifetime, and remains a touchstone in Canadian art history.

About the Student's Inspiration

The painting The Bather by Prudence Heward was often critiqued for its representation of the woman’s body. For me, I remarked that the body, although depicted with “rough features,” looked like Aphrodite’s. My interpretation is purely ironic: the goddess of beauty, in a vulnerable position and folding in on herself, looks insecure in her own body. Why should we seek to alter the appearance of the emblem of beauty? With this work, I wanted to denounce the way in which bodies, in particular those belonging to women, have become fashion “accessories,” fluctuating relentlessly. The standard of beauty is a game where certain characteristics are chosen to be front and center, a game that only corporations and social media play to make profits all the while exploiting the insecurity of others.

–Phung Duc Anne (Grade 10, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montreal, Quebec)