Te Here Tāngata

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Print sizes and editions (limited to 275)

• Regular museum archival paper print - 780 x 510mm

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, oil on canvas, 1300 x 850mm, 2007

The story of Te Here Tāngata

"Te Here Tāngata" is an ancient Maori term meaning The Rope of Mankind. As a description of genealogy, the phrase symbolically alludes to a long rope or vine, which stretches into the past for generations until the instant of creation and on into the future. In our contemporary world of instant gratification and swift development, Te Here Tāngata is a humbling concept.

Sofia visualizes in this work, her own connection to her Swedish, Māori (Ngāti Porou) and Irish heritage. Wearing a traditional moko (Māori tattoo) on her chin and with her golden hair adorned with an elegant Huia feather, the woman in the painting represents a fusion of these richly diverse cultures and bloodlines.

Sofia reaches back into her distant past and in this contemporary portrait makes a connection with her forebears. The vine creeping over the subject's shoulder in the shape of a korowai (Māori cloak) becomes the rope from Te Here Tāngata. Each koru or leaf represents a life or an ancestor. Suggested in the painting and its title is the notion that everything, including the past and future, exist within one moment and within one person.

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Sofia Minson Paintings | New Zealand Artwork