When the world locked down as a result of COVID-19, leaders were put on notice for their handling of a once-in-a-lifetime event - for reasons good and bad.
One leader who emerged at the front for her handling of COVID-19 was our own Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
While the likes of former US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were criticised for their handling of the pandemic, Ardern garnered global accolades - including being named the world's greatest leader by a US magazine, while New Zealand's COVID-19 response as a whole was credited as "remarkable" by The Lancet, a leading medical journal.
Kiwi artists have taken advantage of this, with a surge of works depicting Ardern - and some selling for thousands of dollars.
So why the interest in creating artwork of our Prime Minister? Newshub found out.
Jason Hoyt
Not to be confused with comedian Jason Hoyte, this Jason Hoyt says while he's not a supporter of any political party - creating artwork of political figures at the forefront of New Zealand's pandemic response was a way for him to give credit where credit's due.
"I started during the pandemic as these political figures are in the forefront of navigating New Zealand's pandemic response and focused on by otherwise non-politically-minded New Zealanders which creates a wide range of views and conversation," he tells Newshub.
He's created a wide range of artworks, including a humorous portrayal of Ardern and a "terrible orange" drawn to resemble Trump, and a sketch depicting the Prime Minister and Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield as superheroes. He's also drawn a black-and-white artwork of David Seymour, the leader of the Opposition ACT Party.
Hoyt's latest piece, a portrait of Ardern created by handwriting the word 'Aroha' more than 5700 times, took him 18 hours to draw and had a starting price of over $200. His highest-selling artwork - the Ardern/Dr Bloomfield superhero piece - sold for $6350. He says some have sold for between $1000 and $2000 and others slightly less.
Some hours are spent on these pieces - and it's for a good cause.
"They can take anywhere up to 30 hours to create and it's interesting to watch auctions and hear feedback regardless of [the] sale price and have been able to donate portions to charity," Hoyt says.
Mike Weston and Otis Frizzell
Since 2019, the pair has been selling posters dedicated to Ardern also labelled with the word 'Aroha' - acknowledging what they thought was an "outstanding" response to the Christchurch mosque attacks.
In the days, weeks, and months that followed her response to the shooting - where 51 people died - Ardern was praised internationally for her calmness, compassion and empathy.
When 2020 came along, they saw another opportunity to acknowledge her leadership. For every poster sold, they pasted another for free in what they called a "nationwide street campaign".
"At the conclusion of the March to August 2020 COVID lockdown, we chose the portrait for a street campaign to share some love and again acknowledge her transformative leadership in trying times," Weston tells Newshub.
A limited-edition screenprint of the 'Aroha' artwork fetches $850, a reproduction of the print goes for $99 and bags with the artwork printed on are worth $30.
The pair also created a signed poster of another prominent pandemic figure - microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles - which sold for $685.
Like Hoyt, Weston Frizzell's work has been for a good cause.
"We have donated a very small number of limited edition screen prints also signed Prime Minister Ardern to high profile charity events and these very hot items have raised up to $13,500 apiece," Weston says.
