Nuala A. Gregory is an Irish–New Zealand artist and academic, and is a full professor at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, and Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries. Gregory works mainly in acrylics and collage.

Early life and education

Gregory was born in West Belfast, and is an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

. Her parents were working class, and lived in the conflict zone. After graduating from

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in 1988, Gregory spent ten years as part of an arts collective. She then applied for teaching positions in England, Scotland and New Zealand, due to lack of local opportunities, and

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. She said "I always felt the need to get out of that environment, because you couldn’t thrive. You could struggle; there was little hope and genuine danger." Gregory secured a part-time teaching position at

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries, Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. It offered the first Bachelor of ...

at the University of Auckland in 1997, and was promoted to full-time senior lecturer and Head of Painting the following year. She 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 admi ...

in 2002, and then a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

titled ''The Afterlife of Painting'' at the

in 2015.

Academic career

Gregory was promoted to Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries in 2022, and also to full professor. Gregory is a part of the Creative Thinking Project, an Auckland-based initiative aiming to foster and promote creativity in New Zealand. Gregory has been awarded a University of Auckland Distinguished Teaching Award.

Art

Gregory was taught to sew by her mother, and she and her sister would create collages on their bedheads from old newspapers and spit. A pop-up show of Gregory's in 2021, at Starta Kitchen in Auckland, featured a collection of brightly-coloured collages made from acrylic-painted paper, influenced by the collages she made as a child. Gregory also produces drawings and prints. Besides New Zealand, Gregory's work has been exhibited in Ireland, Mexico, Japan, China and the USA.

Selected works

Exhibitions

* Nuala Gregory, ''Exploded View'', exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, 2010 * Nuala Gregory + Starta Bread Kitchen, pop-up Solander Gallery exhibition, 2021 * Nuala Gregory, ''Any Coloured Thing'', Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, 7 June to 23 June 2012

Articles

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References

External links

Nuala Gregory
talking about her experiences at University of Auckland, via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Nuala New Zealand academics New Zealand women academics University of Auckland alumni Alumni of Ulster University Academic staff of the University of Auckland 20th-century New Zealand women artists 21st-century New Zealand women artists 21st-century Irish women artists 20th-century Irish women artists Artists from Belfast