Artwork without boundaries wins People’s Choice Award

Best friends Possum Smith-Disilvio and Neish Phipps have taken out the SOCO Realty 2026 Emerging Artist People’s Choice Award for collaborative artwork titled Somewhere Among the Clouds.  

Combining paint, crayon, oil pastel, charcoal and pencil on canvas, the two-dimensional work captured the public’s imagination with its raw, playful and layered approach to art. 

Both artists live with disability, and painting has become a way for them to stay connected to a world they often feel they do not quite fit into. Drawing on art brut (raw art) and outsider-art traditions, their work embraces a childlike immediacy, using whatever materials are at hand to explore questions about themselves and the world around them. 

Grinning demons, cats and clouds recur throughout the work, surrounded by layers of marks, scratches, thoughts and images. The result is an expressive, deeply personal piece that invites viewers into the artists’ inner worlds. 

In addition to a $1,000 cash prize sponsored by SOCO Realty, the winning artwork will join the collection of previous People’s Choice winning artworks displayed as paste ups in the underground carpark of Coles Local Angelo Street, South Perth. 

The Emerging Artist Award is an annual program providing a unique opportunity for emerging and early career artists of all ages to exhibit their artworks in a public exhibition. The exhibition was held from 9-17 October at the South Perth Community Hall. See the virtual tour and winners at Emerging Artist. 

Pictured (L-R): Possum Smith-Disilvio and Neish Phipps with their winning artwork Somewhere Among the Clouds.