Talented artist Sofia Minson grew up in east Auckland, and now out of her west Auckland studio, she’s making waves with her art all across the world.
For the past six months, the 32-year-old has been working to pull together her latest exhibition, Sacred Mirrors, which opened on Tuesday night at Parnell Gallery.
The exhibition, held June 13-27, is her first major solo show in five years.
Due to her father’s engineering project management work, Ms Minson also spent time in Samoa, Sri Lanka and China during her childhood, and as a result, developed a strong interest in the connections between diverse people, cultures and religions.
All artworks in this series bear the names of ancestors and mythological deities from Maori, Egyptian, Hindu and Christian cosmology.
She hopes viewers will experience the art as a reflection of themselves – as a mirror.
“I think we’re capable of every single trait in the universe, light and dark. So as an artist, if something profound or loving for example, is coming through me then I must admit, those qualities exist in me. In the same way as a viewer, as someone who appreciates art, by recognising uplifting qualities or beauty in a piece of work, it is coming through you too and is a part of you.
“We all know how this feels with music, when we are moved by a song or our heart breaks over some lyrics. That is compassion and we have potential for all those emotions within ourselves, all the time.
“These are large, bold paintings that give you nowhere else to look. They confront you and then draw you in with intricate detail. Each painting is a self portrait. While I’m painting, I’m embodying the feeling, the characters and the traits of the spirit of the piece onto the canvas. I’m getting my ego out of the way and letting the message come through. You could call it channelling. It might sound lofty but I think its how all creativity happens.”
