Pouakai

Original painting SOLD, 700 x 1800mm, oil on canvas, 2006

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Print sizes and editions (limited to 30)

• Regular museum archival paper print - 214 x 550mm

Your unique limited edition fine art print

1. Sofia Minson creates your exclusive signed print
2. We ship for $25 in NZ and from $50 internationally
3. Your artwork arrives rolled, ready to be framed - do you need help? Request framing guidance
   

The story of Pouakai

This painting was motivated by Sofia's deep respect for the land and mythology of Aotearoa / New Zealand. The primordial scene evolved from her surreal imaginings of a world out of time. On the canvas Sofia describes her dreamscape, which freely explores new relationships between ancient creatures, gods and lands. Papatuanuku (earth mother) lies quietly and sensuously beneath the South Island's Torlesse Mountain Range. Forces of masculine and feminine are balanced as the shapes of the foreground // and the distant mountains / complement one another.

The now extinct Pouakai or Haast Eagle soars from the left of the painting over the naked hills, preparing to fulfill its legacy as the largest, deadliest bird of prey in the world. Until its demise in c.1400 AD, this creature weighing up to 15kg with a wingspan of 3 metres lived on the South Island of Aotearoa. Pouakai were known to prey on large, flightless bird species. To the right of the painting stands a Moa, alone and exposed.

As a snapshot of a moment in an artist's imagination, this painting aims to provide the viewer with inspiration for their own reverie. Secret, boundless universes can be created in response to Sofia's initial, personal vision of an Aotearoa detached from space and time.

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Sofia Minson Paintings | New Zealand Artwork