A Dundee-born artist whose work breathes new life into everyday items has been named as the winner of a prestigious award.
Debbie Lawson (46) was announced as the 2013 winner of the J D Fergusson Arts Award at Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Debbie, who now lives and works in London, graduated from Central Saint Martin’s and the Royal College of Art in 2004. Since then she has exhibited her mixed media sculptures and wooden panels internationally.
Examples of her works, which take common household items like carpets, chairs and coatstands and give them new and intriguing life, are held in the collections of the House of Lords, the University of the Arts London, Dundee University, Charles Saatchi and Mario Testino.
Debbie will use the award to fund a body of new work, comprising wall and floor-based sculptures depicting a diverse range of creatures. The new works will be exhibited at the Fergusson Gallery in Perth from November to March next year.
The chairman of the J D Fergusson Arts Award Trust, Roger Billcliffe, said: “The trustees of the J D Fergusson Award were delighted with Debbie Lawson’s submission a proposal that aimed to create a specific exhibition rather than simply a collection of new paintings. We look forward to her transformation of the Fergusson Gallery later this year.”
Debbie said: “For my show, Magic Carpet, I’m using real Persian carpets to reference scenes from 1001 Nights, particularly the stories about flora and fauna. But for my contemporary visual reading I will be using more ‘urban’ animals like foxes and rats instead of jackals and lions. I’m hoping to turn the gallery into a magical menagerie.”
The Fergusson Gallery, in Tay Street, celebrates the life and work of the great pioneer of modern art, J D Fergusson (1874-1961) and his wife, dancer Margaret Morris.
Fergusson is now best known as one of the celebrated Scottish Colourist painters, while Morris is recognised for her pioneering work in modern dance.