Vancouver's Colleen Heslin Wins RBC Canadian Painting Competition

On October 2, 2013 at the National Gallery in Ottawa, Vancouver artist Colleen Heslin was chosen as the national winner of the 15th annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition. 

Heslin, an Emily Carr alumna (2003), will receive a $25,000 purchase prize for her artwork Almost young and wild and free. The work, created with ink, dye and acrylic on cotton, was praised by the jury for its fresh approach to the traditions of painting, Heslin's play with surface and depth, and her invocation of the pursuits of mending and making in the medium of textiles.

Honourable mentions and purchase prizes of $15,000 each were given to Colin Muir Dorward of Ottawa for Labyrinthineon and to Neil Harrison of Toronto for Fig. 13.

Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition recognizes and supports Canada's emerging artists. The competition nurtures Canadian visual artists early in their career by providing them with a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and hopefully open doors to future opportunity.

The competition, held in partnership with the Canadian Art Foundation, publisher of Canadian Art, awards one national prize and two honourable mentions. In recognition of the competition's 15th anniversary, the remaining 12 finalists will be awarded $5,000. Along with past winners, the winning paintings of 2013 will become part of RBC's Canadian art collection comprised of more than 4,000 works of distinguished art collected over the past hundred years.