Gill Gatfield (born 1963) is a New Zealand sculptor; she was formerly a lawyer specialising in equality and diversity.

Biography

Gatfield grew up in Kawerau, one of five daughters. Her mother was a maths teacher and her father taught science.

Law

Gatfield completed a law degree at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. She initially worked in legal practice, then in

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and the Ministry of Women's Affairs. At the Ministry she worked on policy development including pornography law reform, child support tax, employment discrimination, and women in combat. In 1993, she founded Equity Works Ltd, investigating complaints of harassment and discrimination, and advised government and private sector organisations on equality and diversity strategies. Gatfield also received a research scholarship from the New Zealand Law Society to study issues related to women in law and in 1996 published ''Without prejudice: women in the law'', which was re-published in 2011 as a Heritage Collection Title.

Art

In 2002, Gatfield returned to the University of Auckland and completed a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in 2004. In 2011, her work ''Silhouette'', a stone sculpture at

Smales Farm busway station Smales Farm busway station is a bus station in Westlake, New Zealand, Westlake, New Zealand, on the Auckland Northern Busway, Auckland, Northern Busway. It opened on 2 February 2008, and is the second-closest busway station to Britomart Transpor ...

in Auckland, was a finalist in the Wallace Art Awards. In 2015, Gatfield was the sole juror of the 18th International Open 2015 Chicago, an open competition for women artists worldwide. The same year, she was artist in residence at the

Women's Museum, Aarhus KØN - Gender Museum Denmark, formerly Kvindemuseet (Women's Museum), is a history museum in Aarhus, Denmark focused on the cultural history of gender and sexuality in Denmark. KØN was originally founded in 1982 as a women's history museum, and ...

, in Denmark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatfield, Gill 1963 births Living people New Zealand sculptors University of Auckland alumni People from Kawerau 20th-century New Zealand lawyers 20th-century New Zealand women lawyers