Mystery as paintings by 'incredibly determined' artist Mhairi Ferguson disappear from posthumous exhibition

Now an art studio is appealing for information after two paintings mysteriously disappeared from an exhibition to honour the life of Mhairi Ferguson, who died earlier this year.

The Mind, Matter, Mhairi XOX exhibition, which had been planned before Ms Ferguson’s death in August aged 35, showcases the painter’s works at Trongate 103 in Glasgow.

Ms Ferguson, who had action myoclonus renal failure syndrome, which affects the nervous system and the kidneys, worked on her art at Project Ability, an arts community for people with learning disabilities and mental ill-health.

However, organisers noticed on opening night that two of Ms Ferguson’s artworks had vanished from the exhibition.

Celine Mcilmunn, a tutor at Project Ability, said CCTV was being studied to try to get to the bottom of where the paintings had gone.

She said: “Very sadly and very upsettingly for Mhairi’s family, two of the pictures have disappeared and we would really like to get to the bottom of what’s happened. Mhairi is obviously not going to be making any more artworks and they’re something that the family treasures, so it would be wonderful if they could reappear.

“If anyone knows anything about what’s happened to them, we would be really grateful if you could get in touch.”

Ms Ferguson studied design at art school, with her condition only becoming apparent around the time of her graduation.

Ms Mcilmunn said Ms Ferguson had liked creating “ big, silhouette pieces”.

She said: “Her practice was very much about painting, about colour and about herself and her condition. The condition really affected Mhairi’s speech and movement. She sometimes really struggled with controlling her movements, but she was very inventive in how she made her artwork, so rather than using traditional materials, which she sometimes found difficult to manipulate, she would use household items like pots, scourers and other items we would use to wash dishes - to push the paint around on the canvas and create the backgrounds for these big figurative paintings.

“She started off, when she first came to the studio, working quite small, but gradually her work got bigger and bigger and she really liked doing these almost life sized pieces. Mhairi was incredibly determined, she didn’t let her condition prevent her from doing what she wanted to do.

“She sometimes really struggled, but she would keep going, keep pushing herself. She was such a big. bright personality in the studio. She had really good friends here and was really generous with her skills and sharing her processes with other folk who came to the studio.”

She added: “I think she would be absolutely delighted with her exhibition here and it’s such a shame that she couldn’t be here to enjoy it.”

Heather Lander, curator of the exhibition, said: “Very sadly, Mhairi passed away this past August. She did know this exhibition was planned to take place and she was pleased about that. After her passing, we spoke with her family and asked if it was OK if we could still get the exhibition on and they were very happy for that to go ahead.

“It is a very bittersweet occasion where the delight is that we can showcase the work she made when she was with us.”

The exhibition will run until 10 November.