Dao Street Wall

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Print sizes and editions

• Regular museum archival paper print - 587 x 695mm (limited to 275)
• Large museum archival paper print - 991 x 827mm (limited to 195)
• Extra Large museum canvas print - 1096 x 915mm (limited to 175)

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

Original painting SOLD, acrylic painting on moulded fibreglass, 1330 x 1110mm, 2014  

The story of Dao Street Wall

Sofia Minson's painting "Dao Street Wall" is a finalist in the New Zealand Portrait Gallery's 2014 Adam Portraiture Awards. The exhibition is in Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront from 20 February - 25 May 2014.

The work is inspired by the 'Dao' or 'Tao' in ancient Chinese philosophy meaning the 'Way' or 'Path'. It is made to look and feel like concrete giving the sense that the artwork is a piece of 'Street Art' taken directly from a concrete wall, placed inside a gallery and called 'Fine Art'.

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao 

The name that can be named is not the eternal name 

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth 

The named is the mother of ten thousand things 

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. 

Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations."

- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu was the most important spiritual Chinese sage. His name, which is also often called Laozi, literally means "Old Master" and is generally considered an honorific. 

"When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and justice appear. 

When the body's intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. 

When there is no peace in the family, filial piety and compassion begins. 

When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born."

- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu lived in the 6th century BC, at the same time as Confucius, who was born a generation after Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu is the father of the Chinese spiritual tradition Taoism, mainly because of his text called Tao te Ching.

"The more laws we pass, the more outlaws we create."

- Lao Tzu

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Sofia Minson Paintings | New Zealand Artwork