Blue Lion by Paul McLachlan, a 2m-wide tapestry woven in the Netherlands using rubber, viscose, merino, mohair, linen, acrylic and cotton yarns, won the Jury Award at this year's Wallace Art Awards.

A globetrotting Otago artist has won a prestigious award with an artwork inspired by Asia and woven in Europe.

Paul McLachlan (30), who grew up on a farm near Clinton, won the Jury Award on Tuesday night, one of five awards presented at this year's Wallace Art Awards.

McLachlan's artwork Blue Lion was a 2m-wide tapestry woven in the Netherlands using rubber, merino, mohair, linen, acrylic and cotton yarns.

The submission was developed during his 2016 art residency in Bangkok and was influenced by an epic story from Theravada Buddhism and included cross-cultural references to Western mythologies and imagery.

McLachlan said exhibiting any work for the first time was "somewhat nerve-racking" and winning was ''affirming'' for him as an artist.

He bases himself in Wanaka, Southeast Asia and Europe and is now living in Cambodia.

The Wallace Art Awards were established in 1992 by Sir James Wallace, who began collecting art in the 1960s.

-By Sophie Hall