Picture: L-R Wayne Hemingway, Andrew Blevins and Adam Chodzko taken by Matt Walker

A Kent-based international artist has made waves in the world of public art by winning £7,000 for his kayak design in a business-sponsored competition.

The Liberty Kent Public Art Award, backed by the developers of Kings Hill business and residential part in West Malling, went to Adam Chodzko from Whitstable at a VIP ceremony last night.

His winning design Ghost, a re-created kayak that used to ferry people to Deadman's Island, off Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey, impressed the judging panel chaired by famous designer Wayne Hemingway.

The island was used as a burial ground in the 18th and 19th centuries for people who died on prison hulks moored in the River Swale.

The work, commissioned by Whitstable Biennale 2010, is made from hundreds of strips of cedar, mahogany, oak and ash sealed with resin. In 2010, it ferried members of the public to the island. They lay down flat in the vessel like a body in a coffin, their head slightly raised for the solitary, slow, meditative voyage.

Mr Hemingway said the winning design worked in so many different ways. "It's completely individual, it's site-specific, it's intelligent and the public loves it."

Liberty Trust and its predecessor organisation Rouse Kent launched the awards and has continued to back them for 17 years. Andrew Blevins, managing director, said Ghost was an exciting artwork that met the criteria of good public art.

Runners-up prizes went to Out of Tune, Folkestone, and Iconic Site, Margate.