New Zealand artist, Sofia Minson, talks contradiction, diversity and intuition Dyani Van Basten Batenburg
whales and playful dolphins. “My connection to the gifts and wisdom of my ancestors was strengthened by that first and many subsequent road trips I’ve made to the East Cape. I believe that as we heal ourselves, we heal our lineages.”
No black and white
A Brush with Identity
Drawing on Life
“Your art will find its audience. There are eight billion people on the planet. Not everyone has to love what you do. But someone will.” – Sofia Minson
Carving connections, seeking solace
Bequest with a unique blueprint of Ngāti Porou Māori, Irish, English and With her mane of red hair and freckles, Swedish lineage, and having travelled and fun-loving air of joie de vivre, you’d the world extensively throughout childhood – Sri Lanka, Samoa, China – be forgiven for likening renowned it wasn’t until she embarked on a Kiwi New Zealand artist Sofia Minson to a pilgrimage that Sofia strengthened her modern-day Pippi Longstocking. And, roots. whilst their characters are centuries “The Bay of Plenty and East Cape apart in storytelling, their journeys have been grounding for me over the intrinsically entwine in adventure, years – my mum was born in Opotiki, spirit and heart. Neither content to we spent summers at Ohope beach,” call just one place home, one identity explains Sofia. “The flipside of having her own – instead connecting with all my eyes open to other cultures is that corners of the earth and embracing I found it difficult to settle back into shifts in inspiration. life here in Aotearoa. So, in my 20s I “Being born with mixed whakapapa, took my first pilgrimage to Hikurangi that links me to ancestors and and Waiapu – the mountain and river relatives all around the globe, has sacred to my tīpuna. After a soulful sunrise experience on Hikurangi I meant that even if I wanted to, I received a whole lot of inspiration for haven’t been able to identify with new paintings.” one perspective or group in terms of culture of history,” says Sofia. “The Navigators” was the first to be “My hair, freckles and strong Māori born in a long series of Sofia’s works, heritage have afforded me the canvas the most recent being “Hikurangi – and space – to heal some of the Rising” which features the Waiapu river swirling into the ocean, met by contradictory parts of who I am.” 24
Cultural appreciation coupled with a desire to shirk societal conformity, has gifted Sofia the freedom to paint intuitively – and unhindered in her pursuit to capture the marvels, mysteries and paradoxes of the universe.
“I am playful, spontaneous and led by my right brain in the studio. As a piece starts to form, my pattern recognition and narrative forming left brain kicks in. I start to see symbols and threads within the piece that are highly synchronous and contain potent messages,” she explains. “When a painting is finished, and I get to stand back and soak it all in, I begin to write the story about the piece and give it a title.”
Find your own footing Sofia’s advice to would-be artists, here and abroad, painter or performer – all artist mediums inclusive? “I think artists should live and create from whatever place they are drawn to. Trust your body and intuition about where you need to be. Paradigms of learning and doing business are swiftly changing. If everyone isn’t cocreating in commercial or educational relationships and profiting happily, something’s got to change. Perhaps you have a map to a new way of educating yourself and a new model of doing business that is true for you?” she enthuses. “Living in abundance is about learning to ride the waves of money coming in and money going out. Gone are the Van Gogh days of cutting off our ears and living in squalor.”
