A DUNFERMLINE artist is looking for public support as she is in contention to win a prestigious London art competition.

Gemma Coyle, 34, was born in Dunfermline and attended Inverkeithing High School, before graduating from the Edinburgh College of Art with a Master of Fine Arts degree.

After a number of award wins and representing the UK abroad in a Biennale in Greece, she is now looking to win the Secret Art Prize after being nominated and shortlisted in the final 100 entrants.

DJ and art collector Trever Nelson MBE is on the panel of judges, with the overall winner receiving the opportunity to showcase their works within a dedicated space at Moniker Art Fair, with mentoring and a £1,000 cash prize up for grabs as well.

The competition also has a People's Choice Award, with the winner being the entrant who receives the most amount of votes from the public, with Gemma urging West Fifers to vote for her.

Gemma told the Press: "I'd love if people took their time and voted for me. I'm very happy to be involved and I'm so proud to be nominated and part of the competition. I want to get my work out there and reach places as far as I can, so to win a solo show in London would be amazing. I'm extremely proud of my entry."

Her entry, 'Chrysler Horse Drawn', revolves around climate change, using unrecyclable Biro pens to create a sculpture of the Chrysler Building being transported by horses to avoid freak floods caused by climate change. Gemma's work aims to create a reaction and discussion over a serious subject with the use of humour and she is hoping her months of hard work will rewarded.

She said: "Climate change is something that affects us all, nature can hit back at any point and devastate our surroundings. If we keep going the way we're going, there's going to be places flooded.

"New York is going to be submerged and so will many other cities. There's so many pieces of iconic architecture we would lose so I was thinking of ways to save them. The Chrysler Building really stood out for me. I visited the building and I was so overwhelmed. It's more impressive in my eyes than the Empire State Building. It's glorious and absolutely beautiful.

"I used Biro pens as they don't decompose and are very hard to break down – I should really count how many were used! The building has horses pulling it to safety so we don't use any fuels. And the building is on sand as it'd be cool to move the whole of New York to the Sahara Desert! I'd love to do the whole city but that would probably take a lifetime!

"It took me a long time to make! I received funding from the Edinburgh Visual Arts and Crafts Artists Award Scheme and I think it took me around six months to make. I picked it up to move it and it fell! It was just awful! I spent many long days and nights building it."

She was quick to pay homage to her roots, praising both Dunfermline and Inverkeithing for helping young artists.

Gemma commented: "I love Dunfermline. There's a great feel to the place and the Fire Station Creative is great for the area and local artists.

"I loved art way before I went to high school – since I was tiny. My parents would take me to art galleries and I've always wanted to be an artist really. The art department at Inverkeithing is fantastic with great staff who are also very good artists themselves and I think a lot of people sometimes forget that they don't just teach but they have their own work as well."

Gemma's entry can be viewed and voted for online at www.secretartprize.com/2016/08/gemma-2