Liz Magor's piece Burrow from 1999 is part of the series she created on the theme of shelter. It is made of polymerized alpha gypsum and fabric. Liz Magor's piece Burrow from 1999 is part of the series she created on the theme of shelter. It is made of polymerized alpha gypsum and fabric. (Liz Magor/Vancouver Art Gallery)

Vancouver photographer and sculptor Liz Magor has been chosen as winner of the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement, one of B.C.'s most prestigious arts awards.

Magor's installations have been exhibited across Canada and at the Venice Biennale in 1984 and Documenta in Kassel, Germany, in 1987.

The Audain Foundation, founded by Michael Audain, a long-time supporter of visual arts, awards the annual $30,000 prize.

Winners of the VIVA Awards for artists in mid-career were also announced Wednesday. They are:

  • Photo and multi-media artist Mark Soo of Vancouver.
  • Video and sculpture artist Kathy Slade of Vancouver.

Magor, born in 1948 in Winnipeg, studied at the University of British Columbia and the Parsons School of Design in New York.

Her first solo exhibition was in 1977, and she has had exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2001, she received the Governor General's Award for Visual Arts.

Magor teaches at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Her recent series Mouth: Full, a reflection on the waste associated with the consumer lifestyle, features acrylic sculptures of party debris, including candy wrappers and discarded coats, combined with sculptures of the corpses of small animals.

Other works include Cabin in the Snow, One-Bedroom Apartment and her Camping Portfolio, all which express the uncertainty of contemporary forms of shelter.

Soo, born in 1977 in Singapore, graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design. His photographic installation That's That's Alright Alright Mama Mama was purchased in 2008 by the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) with help from the Audain Emerging Artists Acquisition Fund.

Slade, born in Montreal and educated at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, has exhibited her work across Canada as well as in China, Ireland, Sweden and the United States.

Her sculptural work Black Pom-pom, a large ball of acrylic yarn, is one of a series of minimalist sculptures she has created that uses textile techniques. It is on the display at the VAG's How Soon is Now exhibit.

The VIVA awards are supported by the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation.