A tapestry by Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili has been unveiled at the National Gallery.

The Caged Bird's Song is the first time Ofili, best known for featuring elephant dung in his work, has used tapestry.

His design, created with watercolours, was hand-woven by the Dovecot Tapestry Studio in Edinburgh and took almost three years to complete.

The British artist said the weaving was a "response" to his work "rather than a reproduction".

"The Caged Bird's Song is a marriage of watercolour and weaving," he said.

"I set out to challenge the weaving process, by doing something free-flowing in making a watercolour, encouraging the liquid pigment to form the image, a contrast to the weaving process.

"With their response, which is an interpretation rather than a reproduction, the weavers have paid a type of homage to the watercolour that I gave them as well as to the process of weaving."

The tapestry reflects Ofili's interest in classical mythology and contemporary "demigods" and the stories, magic and colour of Trinidad, where he lives.

The exhibition also features Ofili's preparatory works on paper.

The Caged Bird's Song will go on permanent display in Clothworkers' Hall, London, following the National Gallery exhibition.

National Gallery director Gabriele Finaldi said: "In designing a large tapestry, Chris Ofili follows in the footsteps of painters like Raphael, Goya and Miro.

"His fascination with mythical landscapes has been nourished by pictures in the National Gallery, and in The Caged Bird's Song one senses the excitement of the fusion of different strands of his own art coming together with the historic tradition of tapestry-making."

Chris Ofili Weaving Magic opens on Wednesday and runs until August 28 at the National Gallery's Sunley Room.