Drawing its audience inside the frame, a new archival photograph Glass Ceiling describes an undulating field pulsing with imagination. Beneath the neo-classical arches of the towering Silo, a crystalline pool of acquamarine glass evokes a broken metaphor and a sublime scene. The once-was glass ceiling is smashed and silo-ed: set apart and isolated, prised open for inspection. Focus shifts from an invisible obstacle above to the now palpable sum of its parts. Like an ancient Roman Forum, Glass Ceiling frames space for discussion and the exchange of ideas; a beautiful sensory 'room' for meditation and healing, and a salient reminder of the forces of gravity and unbridled power. An industrial scale monument, it proposes a memorial to the past and a foundation for the future, with higher goals.

Presented: SCAPE Public Art - Art in Residence 2020 Details

July 2020. A new public artwork for Sydney, Asterisk (from the Ancient Greek 'asteriskos': little star) combines ancient stones with celestial form, marking journeys past and present. The 12 tonne sculpture is sited at the entrance of a new park developed by NSW Government and Westconnex on 18 hectares of open space, part of a major transport infrastructure project on Cadigal and Kameygal land. The intersecting stone from different corners of Australia - Pilbara, Chillagoe and Sydney, trace the history of the oldest continent on Earth. A unique composite blade made from rock recovered from road tunnelling below the site orientates the star-form to Ginan, a small star recently internationally recognised by its ancient Aboriginal Australian astronomy star-name. Shadows mark the passage of time in a circle of heritage stones from the Triassic period, which once lined local roads.

Asterisk 2020
Pilbara Marble, Chillagoe Marble, Sydney Tunnel-Stone, Heritage Sandstone
12m Dia. x 1mH.
Westconnext Public Art Project, St Peter's Sydney NSW

April 2020. WomanMade Gallery Chicago presents a curated virtual exhibtion, aptly titled 'Touch' during a global pandemic lock-down. Zealandia (At Home) joins selected international multimedia works each navigating the pyschology of human need for connection with nature, community and aspiration in times of turmoil.

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Jan. 2020. International commissioned art platform CODAworx honours 25 Creative Revolutionaries - "artists and arts collaborators, leading the way for positive change", among them NZ sculptor Gill Gatfield:

"an activist and an alchemist, creating beautiful minimalist artworks packed with complexity. Inventive in form and meaning, her work draws audiences to engage through sensory experience and inspired philosophical meanings. From a platform of inclusion, Gill's public artworks challenge the status quo, raising eyebrows, questions, and the bar for minimalist art in contemporary practice. ..."

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Dec 2019-Feb 2020. The Vivian presents work by Gill Gatfield in the Summer Show, a curated exhibition at the purpose-designed spacious gallery north of Auckland, with Australian artists Sally Gabori, Patricia Piccinini and Stephen Benwell, and NZ artists Monique Lacey, Rebecca Wallis, Peter Panyoczki, Cruz Jimenez, Iain Cheesman and Seung Yul Oh.

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Nov. 2019. A new critically acclaimed book by Dr Warren Feeney reviews the exceptional public artworks and projects commissioned by Christchurch based SCAPE Public Art, NZ's premier international bi-annual sculpture exhibition. This 20 year survey includes an interview of artist Gill Gatfield and images of her 4 tonne granite sculpture The Kiss installed on the neo-gothic quad at Christ's College. "An essential book for anyone interested in public art" Andrew Paul Wood, EyeContact Nov 2019

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Oct. 2019. Sculptor Gill Gatfield is a NZ Women of Influence Finalist, nominated for outstanding work in the arts & creative sector and for diversity leadership with impact across sectors. Juried by a prestigious panel of industry leaders chaired by Dame Silvia Cartwright, the Women of Influence Awards recognise and celebrate the passion and vision of New Zealand women leaders on the national and international stage.

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Spring 2019. Art magazine ArtZone features the award winning 'Glass Ceiling': 'Functioning as both political allegory and a challenging sensory experience, Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) explores tensions between fear and desire, in a tantalising yet menacing visual feast. ...' Jess Scott, 'Smash' Artzone 81, 2019

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August 2019. Gill Gatfield's Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) wins Merit Honors in the international 2019 CODAwards. Celebrating art and design professionals whose collective imaginations create exceptional art in public and private spaces, 2019 honorees include art projects in North America, Europe, China, Asia and the Pacific. In selecting Gill Gatfield's monumental glass sculpture, the jury of 18 design and art thought-leaders were "incredibly impressed with the goals of the project, the successful integration of the artwork into the space, and the collaborative process between all the parties involved. Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) is an outstanding achievement."

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June 2019. 'Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa)' has been selected as a Top100 project in the 2019 CODAawards. This international award, juried by a panel of 18 art and design leaders, honors outstanding site specific projects integrating art into interior, architectural or public spaces. Supported by Creative NZ, 'Glass Ceiling' is "a monumental sculpture with over 200 million shards of glass flooding the floor of a 30mH Silo, forming an undulating glass pool, a beautiful sensory experience, and a powerful political metaphor for change".

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