Hatched: National Graduate Show 2026

Marking its 35th year, PICA is proud to present Hatched: National Graduate Show 2026. Curated by Mia Palmer-Verevis, Hatched Curatorial Associate 2025-2026, this year’s exhibition includes work from 21 graduates from 20 tertiary art schools across the country.

Each year, Hatched offers a national survey of burgeoning artistic talent, selected for their creative excellence and unique modes of expression. The exhibiting artists in Hatched 2026 were nominated by their lecturers and selected by a panel comprising Tina Stefanou (artist, Hatched alum 2020, VIC), Guy Louden (artist, curator, Art Consultant & Collections Officer, Artbank, WA), Georgia Hayward (Curator, PICA) and Mia Palmer-Verevis.

In 2026, Hatched presents work that is experimental and innovative in both materiality and ideas, demonstrating a sophisticated approach to making and a high level of conceptual rigor. The artists confront the nuances of a diverse range of lived experiences, with some tapping into complex layers of ancestry and lineage, while others seek to convey the intricacies of natural systems and continually evolving modes of digital representation. The issues explored in these varied and multidisciplinary creative practices are urgent and profound.

The Hatched 2026 cohort includes:

Alanna Askew, University of Wollongong (NSW)
Thomas E Brown, Curtin University (WA)
Chelsea Carkeet, Queensland College of Art and Design (QLD)
Kat Chaplin, Edith Cowan University (WA)
Madeleine Coates, Adelaide Central School (SA)
Lychandra Anastasia Gieseman, University of Tasmania (TAS)
Tabitha Glanville, Monash University (VIC)
Belinda Hearn, Deakin University (VIC)
Lilu Hosking, RMIT University (VIC)
Sydney Jarrett, University of New South Wales (NSW)
Tai Kelly, University of Western Australia (WA)
Sophie Kihara-Murer, Australian National University (ACT)
Tali Koto, Flinders University/TAFESA (SA)
Rebecca Lavery, Southern Cross University (NSW)
Aliza Nickle, Monash University (VIC)
Amirah Rachwani, National Art School (NSW)
Liam Maree Rogers, Federation University (VIC)
Jessica Shannon, North Metropolitan TAFE (WA)
Mary Shaw, Victorian College of the Arts (VIC)
Lily Thomas-McKnight, University of Sydney (NSW)
Kelsey Woods, Queensland University of Technology (QLD)

Returning home to the iconic PICA building in the Perth Cultural Centre, Hatched 2026 opens on Friday 31 July with a signature PICA After Hours opening night party.

In addition to the exhibition, PICA offers tailored professional development programs, equipping the artists with knowledge about funding opportunities, applying for exhibitions and residencies and ways of making their practices more accessible. PICA also provides studio residencies to one interstate and one Perth-based Hatched artist every year. In 2026, Sydney Jarrett from the University of New South Wales (NSW) and Thomas Brown from Curtin University (WA) will undertake month-long studio residencies at PICA.

In 2026, PICA is excited to continue its partnership with The University of Western Australia to present the Dr Harold Schenberg Arts Awards, the largest prize pool for emerging artists in Australia—totalling $50,000.

This year, the Schenberg Arts Awards were be judged by Dr Theo Costantino, Director, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA and Hannah Mathews PICA Director/CEO, and esteemed guest judge Khaled Sabsabi, currently representing Australia at the Venice Biennale and Hatched alum 2005. The recieptients of the 2026 Dr Harold Schenberg Arts Awards for ‘most exceptional artist’ are awarded to Lychandra Anastasia Gieseman, University of Tasmania (TAS), for Rev(olution)s / To Loves Ruin 2025; Tabitha Glanville, Monash University (VIC), for gyrr ngaya bina-guwal winangaylahna (I am listening now with different ears) 2025 and Jessica Shannon, North Metropolitan TAFE (WA), for Allowing the Dust to Settle and In-Tension 2025.⁠