Archibald Prize-winning painter and sculptor Tim Storrier AM has taken out the $5,000 EY People’s Choice Award at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2026 for Emperor of the Abrolhos — a life-size pelican rendered in stainless-steel mirror finish that reflects the beach, the light, and anyone who stops to look at it.
The work draws from the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Geraldton, home to the real-life birds Storrier describes as “nature’s heroic guardians.” In his own words, the sculpture is “The Emperor of the Abrolhos is a trophy to celebrate the ridiculous beauty of one of nature’s heroic guardians.”
It’s the first time Storrier has exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe. His broader career spans public collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Tate in London, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Art Gallery of NSW.
What sets Emperor of the Abrolhos apart from a conventional sculpture is what it does over the course of a day. The mirror-polished surface catches and shifts with the coastal light — the sculpture at 7:00 am is a different object to the one standing there at sunset. It reflects the beach, the people nearby, the sky.
Fiona Drummond, EY’s Office Managing Partner for the Western Region, presented the award and called the piece interactive, lifelike, and a stand-out for Perth residents and visitors. EY has supported Sculpture by the Sea for over a decade.
Kids’ Choice Prize
The $2,000 Kids’ Choice Prize went to Drew McDonald for SOMA. McDonald is an emerging artist from Ocean Shores in New South Wales whose work sits in a deliberately uneasy space — absurd, but pointed. He was on his way to Berlin for an artist residency when the award was announced, which he described as “a fitting continuation of the journey that exhibiting in Sculpture by the Sea has started.”
The numbers
Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe returned to Perth this year after a hiatus in 2025 caused by uncertainty in Government funding. By the time the exhibition closes today, more than 230,000 visitors will have visited — from across Perth, WA, interstate, and overseas — to see 70 sculptures made by artists from eight countries.
Founding CEO and Artistic Director David Handley said, “Thank you to the people of Perth for welcoming back Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe. It has been a great three weeks of relaxed fun with hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoying the sculptures, sand, sea and sunsets made possible by the funding from the Albanese Labor government through Austrade and the WA State government through Tourism WA and Lotterywest.”
