| Artist | Mary MacGregor-Reid | Resides | New Zealand |
| Website | marymacgregor-reid.com | Medium | Photography Resin Acrylic Gold Leaf |
| Print Shop | marymacgregor-reid.com/store | marymacgregorreid@gmail.com | |
| Representing Gallery | CAS Gallery Aotearoa, New Zealand | Themes | The other-worldly The occult Alchemy Mysticism Symbolism Ritual and Ceremony |
| Follow the Artist | Instagram | Youtube | Press | marymacgregor-reid.com/texts |
About the artist
Mary MacGregor-Reid is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her life-long interest in Western Esotericism and ontology of the otherworldly inform her work, whether through moving image installation, photography or sculpture. She creates the costumes and props for her lens-based works as well as 3D sculpting her miniature objects. Mary explores symbolic expression in her work, particularly the occulted visual language of alchemy, which she has reimagined in her figurative artwork for the past 7 years.
In 1997 Mary achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts before working in the design industry as a branding and packaging specialist. She returned to study at WhiteCliffe School of Art in 2014 to attain a Master of Fine Arts and began to build her career as an artist.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Inspired by the flamboyant character of Mary MacGregor-Reid’s great grandfather, who spearheaded the Druid revival in early 20th century Britain, Mary became interested in the way people perform character for mystic purposes. Her Great Grandfather cultivated a metaphorical wardrobe of flamboyant characters he could take on and off as befitted the situation and the audience. Intrinsic to ritual practice, the assumption of character archetypes sits alongside movement, gesture and language as symbolic tools to assist the esoteric practitioner. It is this use of symbolism in both mundane life and magical tradition that especially fascinates Mary. Having first seen the artists of the late 19th Century Symbolist movement and the Italian Baroque and while studying art as a teenager, Mary’s love for their work has never wavered and continues to inform her own creations. She has a particular interest in alchemical transformation, ritual and ceremonial magic, the otherworldly and the hidden.
Press
Mary MacGregor-Reid’s works has been featured in notable magazine, books and online sources including D-Photo Magazine Issue 98, Communicating Vessels Book, and Dominican Post.
Upcoming Exhibitions
| When | Exhibition | Gallery |
| December 2023 | Group exhibition: “To be announced.” | Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, Taranaki, NZ |
CV
Education
2016 Master of Fine Arts, WhiteCliffe College of Art, Auckland, New Zealand
1997 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
When We Have Spoken Openly, We Have Said Nothing, Contemporary Art Space, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2022
Celestial Bodies, solo multichannel video installation, Contemporary Art Space, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2021
Communicating Vessels, with Hayley Theyers and Kate Rampling, Photospace Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2020
Communicating Vessels, with Hayley Theyers and Kate Rampling, Photospace Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2019
Rubedo, solo show at Kingsize, Auckland, New Zealand
2018
Nigredo, solo show at Kingsize, Auckland, New Zealand
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Loving Across Distances, Ahuriri Contemporary, Napier, New Zealand
We all think we are good people, Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, New Zealand
2021
We all think we are good people, Contemporary Art Space, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2019
Bitter Harvest, Black Asterisk, Auckland, New Zealand
What Remains, group show at DEMO, Auckland, New Zealand
Occulture Salon” group show, Wellington, New Zealand
2016
Esoteric Salon’ group exhibition, Buratti Gallery, Perth, Australia, New Zealand
Art Ache’ Group exhibition, Golden Dawn, Auckland, New Zealand
Glaister Ennor Award’ finalists show, Sanderson Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
