Ermington artist Patrick Perlstone wins $2,000 People’s Choice Award for Mr Squiggle and the 458 Crew.

PLC Sydney and the Adelaide Perry Gallery are delighted to announce that Sydney-based artist Patrick Perlstone has taken out the People’s Choice Award at the 2025 Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing.

This year marks a special milestone, as the Perry Prize celebrates 20 years of championing excellence in contemporary drawing. The exhibition, held from 1–28 March, featured 43 outstanding finalist works, with visitors invited to vote for their favourite.

The $2,000 People’s Choice Prize was awarded to Mr Squiggle and the 458 Crew , a nostalgic and richly detailed piece by Perlstone, created using pencil, collage, gouache and gold leaf. The work struck a chord with audiences, securing the highest number of public votes.

“I have been working on a series of drawings for the last two years whose inspiration comes from the Transport Collection photos of John Ward on the City Of Sydney Archives,” said Perlstone. “I add my own elements to these with a modern twist to enhance the nostalgia and sentiment that one feels from the emotion of seeing images from one’s past.”

The Perry Prize, now in its 20th year, continues to honour technical skill, innovation and narrative power in drawing—one of the most foundational forms of artistic expression.

To view more of Patrick Perlstone’s work, visit his online portfolio at Bluethumb .

Congratulations to Patrick on this well-earned recognition—and to the Perry Prize on 20 years of celebrating drawing at its finest.