Markham-based artist Xiaojing Yan has won a 2026 Rewilding Arts Prize for a living sculpture that brings together fungi, native plants, pearls and other organic materials.
Yan, a Chinese-Canadian artist, was selected through a national competition recognizing artistic connections between nature, community and culture, Markham Review reported.
The David Suzuki Foundation selected the winners in partnership with Rewilding Magazine. Yan’s work was one of five submissions chosen to receive the award, which includes a $2,000 prize and a feature story in the magazine.
Her sculpture explores the relationship between human and non-human worlds. Its use of living elements places nature within the artwork itself, alongside pearls and other organic materials.
The winning work emerged from a field of more than 600 submissions. Applications opened to artists across Canada in late 2025, with an eight-member jury made up of previous prize winners reviewing the entries.
In March, 20 submissions advanced as finalists. The jury then selected five of those submissions for the 2026 prize, including Yan’s living sculpture.
The award’s focus extends beyond nature alone: it recognizes work that connects the natural world with community and culture. Yan’s combination of living and organic materials explores those connections through sculpture.
