SOFIA MINSON

Ngāti Porou

She paints portraits and landscapes infused with ancient myth, magic and symbolism. 

Sofia's Ngāti Porou (Māori), Swedish, English, Scottish and Irish heritage inspires her to uncover connections between diverse cultures.

Embarking on a Contemporary Maori Oil Portrait series in 2011, Minson has since painted prominent figures in Maori culture such as activist Tame Iti, musicians Tiki Taane and Stan Walker, Tā moko artist Turumakina Duley and social anthropologist Dame Joan Metge. The portrait of Metge was commissioned by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery for the Makers of Modern New Zealand 1930–1990 exhibition and is now part of their permanent collection.

Minson and five other New Zealand artists were chosen for a collaborative arts project that was filmed for a 11⁄2-hour documentary called Canvassing the Treaty, which aired on Maori TV on Waitangi Day 2010 and at the international film festival in 2011.^[1]