19 September – 2 November

First awarded in 1965, the Portia Geach Memorial Award was established by Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister, artist Portia Geach. As per the direction of the will, the Award is annually presented to an Australian female artist for the best portrait painted from life of a man or woman distinguished in art, letters or the sciences. Geach was widely acclaimed as a leading artist and was a frequent commentator in the national media – making her an iconic figure in the Australian arts community. The $30,000 non-acquisitive Portia Geach Memorial Award is given by Perpetual as trustee, to the entry with the highest artistic merit.

Winner

The 2025 winner of the Portia Geach Memorial Award is Michelle Hiscock for her painting, The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán (Simon Buttonshaw, artist).

The People’s Choice Award winner is Loribelle Spirovski for her work, Fingerpainting of Elena at work, a portrait of composer, Elena Kats-Chernin.

MEDIA

The truth about what makes an award-winning portrait – Christopher Allen, The Australian 4-5 October

The Portia Geach Memorial Award 2025 – John McDonald, Everythingthe.com 3 October

PUBLIC PROGRAM

FINALISTS

JILL ANSELL  Just Pete (Peter Nudd, rope access technician and outdoore specialist) oil on board 40.5 x 30.5cm

DEIRDRE BEAN  The Talented Patrick O’Neill (Patrick O’Neill, retired journalist) oil on linen 67 x 51cm

PHOEBE BELL  A Room of One’s Own (self-portrait) acrylic on linen 183 x 122 x 4.5cm

NATASHA BER  Janet at 90 (Janet Dawson, artist) oil on board, 35 x 28cm

SHARON BILLINGE  Sharon (self-portrait) oil on panel 40 x 15cm

ASHLEE BUCHOLTZ  Beneath the Rhododendron Bridge (self-portrait) acrylic on canvas 92 x 92cm

ISABELLE CHOUINARD  Self-portrait in yellow and purple oil on linen 30 x 25cm

MELISSA CLEMENTS  Living Treasure (Pippin Drysdale, ceramicist) oil on panel 60 x 40cm

YVETTE COPPERSMITH  Seated woman with abstraction (self-portrait) oil, sand, marble dust, and wax on jute 113.5 x 97.5cm

DAGMAR CYRULLA  Mahalia and Rosie (Mahalia Barnes, singer-songwriter & daughter Rosie) oil on linen 122 x91cm

ANTHEA DA SILVA  Vicki, Alana & Jazz (Vicki Gordon, Alana Valentine & Jazz; arts producer & director, playwright, librettist, dramaturg, change-makers) oil on canvas 120 x 90cm

SINEAD DAVIES  Meredith Burgmann (retired politician, academic, author, feminist & anti-racist) oil on canvas 1220 x 840cm

REBECCA DAVIS  The next big thing (James Powditch, artist) oil on canvas 101.6 x 76.2cm

YVONNE EAST  Parallel and perspective projections, portrait of artist Louise Zhang 张露茜 (Louise Zhang, artist) oil on canvas 122 x 102cm

NICOLETTE EISDELL  Will (Yum) Gibb (William Gibb, comedian and influencer)  oil on board 19 x 24cm

MARINA FINLAY  Merridy Eastman (actor and writer) oil on canvas 94 x 63.5cm

KATHRYN (KIT) FLETCHER  Firebird (Gillian Smith, musician & teacher) oil on canvas 90 x 67cm

STEPHANIE GALLOWAY BROWN  Tegan Murdock, Barkindji / Yorta Yorta Weaver oil and wax 137 x 101.6cm

LINDA GOLD  Fairlie (Fairlie Kingston, artist) oil on canvas 120 x 100cm

JAQ GRANTFORD  The Animal Advocate (Ingrid Newkirk, CEO and founder of PETA) oil on canvas 107 x 91cm

BABY GUERRILLA  Portrait of Mary Leunig (artist) acrylic paint, coloured pencil, fine liner pen, watercolour paint and  graphite 95 x 126cm

JANE GUTHLEBEN  I see myself in you (self-portrait) oil on linen 50 x 50cm

KIM HARDING  Jane Guthleben (artist) oil on canvas 152 x 101cm

JACQUELINE HENNESSY  The Madonna (self-portrait) oil on linen 102 x 102cm

KIT HILLER  The Islander (self-portrait) oil on linen 152 x 122cm

MICHELLE HISCOCK  The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán (Simon Buttonshaw, artist)  oil on linen 50 x 40cm

AMELIA JAJKO  In Between (self-portrait) oil on board 30x24cm

BRITTANY JONES  Self, Reflected oil on canvas 41 x 32.3cm

NICOLE KELLY  Ali (Ali Yeldham, Arthouse Gallery Director)  oil on polyester 122 x 137cm

ANNA KRUK  Self Portrait in Orange Beanie oil on card 20 x 15cm

JODI LEWIS  Self in Process oil on canvas 101.6 x 76cm

SYMONE MALE  Ruby Rulz (Ruby Herrenberg, artist) 152 x 122cm

NICOLA MASON  Berties feet, the tea cosy, Lucky the Galah, Steve’s cameras, Bunny, Deb’s horse, the remains of the old wallpaper, mum’s Dalek and Tracy Sorensen with her vitals crocheted and strewn whilst selecting threads to aptly stitch endangered Bathurst Purple Copper Butterfly eggs and more (‘The late’ Dr Tracy Sorensen, Adjunct Research Associate, novelist (Miles Franklin longlisted), writer and craftiest) acrylic on canvas 100 x 100cm

STEPHANIE MCCLORY  KP (Dr Kaye Price AM, educator, author, elder-in-residence CSIRO, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Sydney) acrylic on canvas 125 x 94.5cm

SARAH MCGRATH  In the studio (Kean Onn See, artist) oil on canvas 124 x 104cm

KIRSTY NEILSON  Lucy Culliton (artist) oil on board 120 x 170cm

SUSAN O’DOHERTY  Everybody’s trying to find their way home – portrait of Jen Cloher (Jen Cloher, musician and activist) acrylic on canvas 167 x 122cm

NICOLE O’LOUGHLIN  Mon seul désir, Molesworth (self-portrait) watercolour and gouache on paper 92 x 122cm

SASSY PARK  Bronte in the studio (the Green Jumper) 2025 (Bronte Leighton-Dore, artist) underglaze and glaze on terracotta mix, Knead It, Liquid Nails and wood glue 32 x 26cm

LORI PENSINI  Song Bird (self-portrait) oil on raw linen 96 x 90cm

PETRA REECE  Peter in Blue (Peter Wegner, artist) oil on linen 44 x 39cm

VICTORIA REICHELT  Hannah Kent (author) oil on linen 120 x 100cm

ROBYN RICH  Growth (self-portrait)  oil on timber panel 25.5 x 31.5cm framed size

JENNY RODGERSON  Self portrait in brown scarf oil on linen 55 x 45cm

JENNIFER ROSNELL  Wendy immersed in painting a mural (Wendy Sharpe AM, artist) oil and graphite on timber 103 x 103cm

SILVIA RUBBOLI  Mr. Niland (Josh Niland, chef) oil paint 243 x 153cm

SALLY RYAN  Fifty shades of pink (Annette Innis, artist) oil on board 120 x 90cm

LYNN SAVERY  the Memory Of (Rin Tamiko, stay at home parent) oil and gold leaf on canvas 152 x 102cm

KIRTHANA SELVARAJ  Flowers on the Wall (after Vuillard) (Megha Kapoor, editor, writer, creative director) oil on linen 100 x 150cm

LORIBELLE SPIROVSKI  Fingerpainting of Elena at work (Elena Kats-Chernin, composer) oil on canvas 150 x 120cm

KATE STEVENS  Witness (Braden, Afghanistan, 2012) (Braden Chapman, Special Forces Veteran) oil on canvas 175 x 125cm

LILLI STRÖMLAND Self portrait with Chux oil on linen, stoneware, Chux and embroidery thread 77 x 25.5cm

LIZ STUTE  Waltzing Alone (self-portrait) oil on canvas 91 x 91cm

TRISH TAIT  Where words fail (Hugh Tait, musician) oil on board 20 x 20cm

DEBORAH WALKER  Self-portrait as Lemuel Gulliver in the land of Gondwana oil on linen 90 x 120cm

MEG WALTERS Backstage (Isabella Manfredi, musician in band The Preatures) Oil, oil stick, oil pastel, wax on linen 130 x 135cm

ANNA WESTON  Panic Strap Optional (self-portrait) oil on board 70 x 90cm

YUQING VICKY ZHOU  Disconnected Signal (self-portrait) il on canvas 40 x 40cm

ZUZA ZOCHOWSKI  Self Portrait RYB, 2025 oil on linen 53 x 44cm

MICHELLE ZUCCOLO  Composite, John Scurry (artist, former tertiary lecturer, current traditional jazz and swing musician) oil on Italian canvas 50 x 70cm

Award Trustee