Visitors to the 2026 Perry Prize for Drawing exhibition, held at the Adelaide Perry Gallery from 27 February to 27 March 2026, voted to determine this year’s People’s Choice Award from a selection of 41 finalist works on display.

Congratulations to Eamonn Jackson , recipient of the 2026 People’s Choice Award for his work Memory , graphite on paper (46cm x 91cm).

PLC Sydney staff member, Karmen Martin, with the People's Choice Award winning work.

Artist Statement:

With an art practice that encapsulates various processes such as photography, composition, and drawing, patience is an overarching principle in my pursuit of expressing our environments with precision and care. Inspired by the beauty of Yuin country, I have developed a method of acute observation and constant evaluation, often assessing my drawings from close and distant lenses. Over the years, an obsession with excessive detail has taken hold, and thus has formed the basis of my practice - meticulously rendering works with intricacies that serve to satisfy my desire to tame nature's infinite variations.Thousands of hours after my pencil first marks the paper, a piece of deliberation takes form; it is through the challenge of capturing the particulars of the world that, time and time again, I discover the inherently unique artistry of each leaf, log and tree. My practice revolves around enticing the viewer into the spiritual significance of the land, and it's inextricably tied to one question: how can I convey the hidden emotion that is innate to every landscape?