Cellophane, sand, lipstick: a recipe for winning the Turner Prize?

Shortlisted artist's use of everyday items attracts judges' attention

For those who delight in the annual provocation and eccentricity of the Turner Prize nominees, this year's batch is no disappointment. The Scottish artist Karla Black, who uses household items such as cellophane, soap and moisturiser in her sculptures, has been shortlisted for the prestigious, yet controversial, award.

Black, 38, joins fellow Scot Martin Boyce, 43, on the shortlist. Both were educated at the Glasgow School of Art. They join Hilary Lloyd, 46, who lives and works in London, and George Shaw, 44, who was born in Coventry and is now based in Devon. The quartet's work will go on display at Gateshead's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in October, before the winner's announcement in December, only the second time the show has been held outside London.

"We are very grateful to the jury for the work they have put into this," said Tate Britain's director Penelope Curtis, who heads the prize's jury. "We have four jurors with very different backgrounds and taste." The award recognises a specific exhibition held by an artist in the 12 months prior to the shortlist announcement.

Boyce has been recognised for a solo exhibition at Zurich's Galerie Eva Presenhuber, where he created minimalist installations inspired by 1920s French designers Joel and Jan Martel.

Black was shortlisted for her show at Berlin's Galerie Capitain Petzel. Her work appeared in this year's British Art Show at London's Hayward Gallery until last month, emphasising the reputation of the exhibition, which takes place every five years, as an artistic breeding ground.

Lloyd, who uses video, slides and photography in her installations, and began exhibiting in the 1990s alongside Young British Artists such as Gillian Wearing and Sam Taylor-Wood, won her place for a show at London gallery Raven Row. Shaw came to the judges' attention for his near-photorealistic paintings of suburban backwaters.

"If there's one example in British contemporary art of the relationship between artists, institutions and audiences, it's the Turner Prize," Baltic director and prize juror Godfrey Worsdale said. Katrina Brown, director of arts organisation The Common Guild, Vasif Kortun, founding director of Istanbul's Platform Garanti Art Centre, and freelance curator Nadia Schneider complete this year's jury.

The prize last left its traditional venue at London's Tate Britain in 2007, when it was held at Tate Liverpool.