#Poedua OG - she was the first of my Poedua series, surrounded by the red flags that this first 'great portrait' of a #PacificIsland woman for a Western audience still represents for me today. Made in 1785 by John Webber, an artist onboard the HMS Discovery on James Cook's third voyage to Oceania, Poedua of Ra'iātea (Tahiti) was painted whilst being held hostage. Nice. In 2010, @te_papa purchased one of three versions of the painting for over two million #NewZealand dollars. For real. It has been called the 'Pacific Mona Lisa' that 'epitomized the sensual image of the South Sea maiden'. I painted Poedua in five reimagined states for the exhibition "The Perpetual Flux of Transitional Otherness" currently showing at @olly.akl, 537 Mt Eden Road, central #Auckland - up til 31 March. (at Olly)
