Grant Palliser

Grant Palliser was born in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and during his childhood he was was exposed to various artforms. He attended Riccarton High School, and initially embarked on a career in the sciences, where he worked in the Medical Research Unit at Princess Margaret Hospital, and in Environmental Health and Community Development in South Auckland and Nelson before embarking on an artistic career in 1988 (aged 38).

With the support of his family he enrolled in Canterbury University’s Ilam School of Fine Arts. ‘There's no point looking back on life and saying ‘I wish,' says Palliser. Based in Christchurch, he spent alternate weekends in Nelson with his family. He initially intended to major in painting, but found sculpture more exciting and engaging. He liked the fact sculptures cast real shadows rather than illusionary ones, and the enormous array of mediums and materials you could use. A placement at St Martins Central School of Art and Design in London during this time enabled him to gain bronze casting experience, and he graduated with a BFA in 1992, majoring in Sculpture.

He gained a Diploma of Teaching from the Christchurch College of Education in 1993, and embarked on a long career as a full- and part-time art teacher at Nelson College for Girls (1992-2016). During this time he was able to take some periods of leave to focus full-time on art production, establish his studio art foundry, and undertake an art residency in Ireland (2014).

Alongside this he maintained his art practice, exhibiting widely, and completing a number of public and private commissions. He has seven public art commissions in the Nelson region, including ‘The Oracle’ (1996), Stoke Public Library; The Seafarers Memorial 1998-2000, Nelson waterfront, ‘Art for Health’ (2003), Nelson Hospital; and ‘High Flyers’ (1999), Matai River walkway. He has worked in a wide variety of materials including lost wax bronze casting, stainless steel, bronze, cast aluminium, mild steel, and water.

In more recent years, an art residency in Portugal in 2018 enabled him to return to painting, and he also writes poetry and prose. He currently works from his home-based studio in the seaside village of Maupuia overlooking the Waimea inlet, where he and his partner Esmé have been based since 2020.

See also:

• Grant Palliser (artist’s website)
• Grant Palliser (Quiet Dog Gallery)
• Grant Palliser (The Prow)
• Grant Palliser (New Zealand Centre for Fine Woodworking)