The Persian rug, reimagined

After graduating with an English Literature degree from the University of East Anglia in 1988, Lawson initially worked at Reuters, Channel 4 and BBC Magazines. She then became a freelance journalist and got a job as a sub-editor at the Observer, where she still works part-time. “I just thought everyone was as obsessed with drawing and painting as me, and that it was too much fun to ever be an actual job,” she explains.

Just a few years into her career Lawson decided to apply for a foundation course. “Before long I had swapped sitting behind a desk for honing wet clay into shapes and I realised then that there was no way I could go back,” she recalls. Lawson then went on to complete a degree at Central Saint Martins and an MA at the Royal College of Art. She continues to live in London and now works at a studio in Hackney.

Among her works, Lawson has created the accurately named Spaghetti Mop, she has adapted a set of chairs to perform the can-can (Dancing Queen), and she has hidden lovers in the grain of wooden furniture (Golden Brown). Artists have to reinvent and re-evaluate everyday objects, says Lawson, “because reality can be so boring otherwise”.

Many of Lawson’s pieces depict natural forms emerging from large, thick decorative carpets; a giant bear looms out of one, while lowers and foliage burst out of another. “Persian carpets are really rich in texture, colour and pattern,” says Lawson, “my mind wanders a lot, and I spot things where they aren't supposed to be. Of course it's all in my imagination, but I like to play on this when I'm making my work.”