Guelph-based artist Patrick Cruz won the 17th RBC Canadian Painting Competition on November 18. Cruz was awarded the $25,000 top prize in the annual competition for his work Time allergy, which will become part of the RBC Corporate Art Collection. Here, he discusses the inspiration behind the winning work, and how his emigration from the Philippines has informed the narrative within his works.
Currently completing an MFA at the University of Guelph, Cruz holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His work draws on ideas of cultural hybridity and globalization.
Alongside Cruz’s first-place win, hnourable mentions were given to Hangama Amiri of Halifax for her work Island of Dreams, and Claire Scherzinger of Toronto for My Contribution To The Many Paintings Of Pots And Plants. Each honourable mention will receive $15,000 while the remaining finalists will each receive $2,500. Their works will also join the RBC Corporate Art Collection.
Awarded annually since 1999 (when it was the Canadian Emerging Artist Prize), the competition has spotlighted the work of more than 200 emerging artists on a national level, and provided past finalists with mentorship and insight from jurors and other art-industry experts. Past winners include Rebecca Brewer, Dil Hildebrand, Jeremy Hof and Colleen Heslin.
