Modestly scaled piece from a New Zealand figurative painter whose style combines early European modernism with contemporary Maori spirituality. The composition portrays two seated figures, a woman in the foreground looks directly ahead while her companion's positioned slightly behind, gaze tilted to suggest inward contemplation. Their relationship's ambiguous, they could be mother and daughter, sisters, or possibly lovers. Much wonder in this work arises from tension between the delicately loose brushwork and a clarity of emotion that's delivered, partly through Star's calculated approach to colour. The auction estimate (NZ $6,000-9,000).
Price realised at auction: NZ $11,411