Winston Li, a grade 12 student at Lord Byng Secondary School, stands with his prizewinning painting. Photo by Courtesy Li family /DM Public

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Vancouver student Winston Li won top honours at the fifth Art Canada Institute’s 2025 Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge.

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The cross-country competition, open to students in grades seven through 12, invites them to craft an original artwork inspired by a historical or contemporary work of Canadian art. The winners were announced earlier this summer.

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The Lord Byng Secondary School graduate’s painting, titled Playing Cards, depicts him playing a hand with three different versions of himself in vibrant, rich colours with a decidedly modernist approach. The piece was inspired by Toronto artist Alex Coleville’s 1980 painting Target Pistol and Man.

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This fall, the nine winning works from the competition will be exhibited at Art Toronto, the nation’s largest international art fair. Running Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, the exhibition is a catalyst for emerging artists to gain greater recognition.

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We caught up with Winston to learn more about what inspires his art.

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Student Winston Li won the Art Canada Institute’s 2026 Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge. Photo by Courtesy Li family /Submitted

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The painting was inspired by a summer where I spent a lot of time in isolation. It was very hot, and I would get into these really dissociative, zoned-out states, and that feeling found its way into the painting through the cloned figures appearing like hallucinations. I was also looking a lot at Alex Colville’s work, as this eerie silence and numbness in his paintings really captivated me. Even though he depicts ordinary scenes, they feel very uncanny and surreal, and I found that reflected in how I was experiencing everyday life during that summer.

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It felt incredibly reassuring and validating that I was doing something right. It was my first proper oil painting and the largest canvas I had ever worked on, so it was definitely my most ambitious project. A lot of time had passed since I first submitted it, and by then I noticed all the flaws and things I wished I had done differently. When I found out I had won, I was honestly surprised.

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I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but oil paint has been my favourite medium for the past two years. It feels like there’s always something new to play with, whether it’s trying different painting surfaces or finding new ways to manipulate the paint itself through various oil mediums. I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible with it.

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I was really lucky to attend a high school with an amazing art program. My teacher, Mr. Hartley-Folz at Lord Byng, was incredibly supportive throughout the years I was in his classes. He created an environment where we were encouraged to explore and experiment with different mediums, to develop our own approaches to making art. That support was huge in giving me the confidence to pursue art as a post-secondary path.

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The past two years have really allowed me to find my footing in oil painting and it has quickly become something I’m committed to continuing at OCAD University in Toronto in the Drawing and Painting program. I look forward to spending more time in the studios and seeing how my work changes over the next few years.

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