sculptor Tom Waugh, from Wellington, has won two prizes in a new art competition, beating 16,000 artists from around the world.

Tom won the People’s Choice Award in the Rise Art Prize, a new global art competition designed to unearth the best new and established artists.

The award was voted for by the public, and he also scooped the category award for sculpture.

An expert judging panel including Richard Wilson, Harland Miller, Ben Eine, Gavin Turk and Fiona Banner chose his sculpture based on his creative excellence, original ideas and technical skill.

Tom creates hyper-realistic sculptures of waste and rubbish carved from stone and marble off-cuts. Objects are squashed, wrinkled and crushed – yet in his pieces are echoes of the veiled and draped figures of classical statuary.

His depiction of a petrol can carved in ironstone helped him scoop the coveted prize, in addition to the sculpture category award.

The inaugural Rise Art Prize, which culminated in an awards ceremony at House of Vans in London, was launched by curated online art gallery Rise Art in October 2017.