Sofia Minson is an award-winning artist who has been featured in TV programmes, radio, videos, articles and books. She appeared on the front cover of Idealog magazine and has been featured in three documentaries. She paints portraits and landscapes infused with ancient myth, magic and symbolism.
Sofia's Ngāti Porou Māori, Swedish, English and Irish heritage inspires her to uncover connections between diverse cultures. Her talent was visible from an early age when she won her first art prize at just 21 years old, the Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award with her piece entitled "Saffron Monk" and the ART Auckland Award with her mythological Maori artwork "The Separation of Rangi and Papa" She has also been a three-time finalist in the Adam Portaiture Adam.
She has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand and internationally, including at the museum at Estense Castle, Ferrara, Italy and in Chelsea, New York
Sofia Minson was born in Auckland and spent her childhood living in Samoa, New Zealand, China and Sri Lanka due to her father's engineering project management work.
“Having spent much of my childhood and teenage years travelling overseas and living amongst diverse cultures, I felt separated from my own heritage and yearned for a sense of 'home' that I could connect with. Exploring Māori myths and cosmology through my art has enabled me to find this connection within my own wairua, within my own spirit.”
- Sofia Minson