(Morell) (b Invercargill, May 18, 1920; d Auckland, Oct 12, 1979). New Zealand sculptor. She studied at the Canterbury School of Art (1938–40), where the guidance of Francis Shurrock (1887–1977) encouraged her to take up sculpture. Her principal subjects were human figures, heads and animals in attitudes of stillness and repose. Among her early works in wood are Head (1948; Auckland, Haydn priv. col., see 1982 exh. cat., no. 8), which depicts a Maori woman, and Mask (1948–50; Auckland, Haydn priv. col., see 1982 exh. cat., no. 16), which is influenced by Pacific carving. In 1952 Macalister’s work was the New Zealand entry in a competition organized by the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London for a statue of the Unknown Political Prisoner (unexecuted). Her maquette, in concrete, was exhibited at the Tate Gallery, London, in 1953. The scale of her work increased after 1957, when she began working in cast and moulded concrete. Her principal European influences were Henry Moore and Marino Marini, but a Pacific and Maori awareness is always evident. An exhibition of new work in concrete, with two other sculptors, Alison Duff (...