A drawing of the Prime Minister and Director-General of Health dressed as superheroes is causing a stir on TradeMe.
The A3-sized artwork, by Auckland graphic designer Jason Hoyt, was created using graphite pencil as a "tribute to the good work done so far during the global pandemic".
It shows Jacinda Ardern wearing a Wonder Woman shirt beneath her blazer, while Dr Ashley Bloomfield wears an open shirt with the Superman logo emblazoned on his chest.
Hoyt says he was inspired by the pair's superhero-like qualities throughout the coronavirus crisis.
"Drawing is mostly a hobby for me," he told Newshub. "The subjects are usually just people I admire - musicians and celebrities.
"I used the Superman-Wonder Woman theme because for someone like Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who doesn't get in the public eye, he stepped up like a Clark Kent sort of character.
"Just the information was clear that they provided, sensible based on international advice from experts, and really put it out to the public that it was a team effort."
The auction for the piece, which closes next Wednesday, has already drawn 36 bids since being posted on Tuesday night and currently sits at $425.
At the time of publishing, more than 400 people had added the artwork to their watchlist, and 60 had left 'questions' about the piece - although most of these were to shower Hoyt with praise.
Hoyt told Newshub that "given art's subjective", he's happy enough with $425 and the interest he's received so far - but he's interested to see how high that could go.
Last year, Hoyt's drawing of Ardern on horseback with her breasts exposed was removed from Trade Me after it was deemed "inappropriate".
"We felt this listing was inappropriate and decided to take it down," a spokeperson told Newshub. "Our thinking was that a large volume of complaints from our community was inevitable and we decided to preempt that feedback and remove the auction."
Under the leadership of Dr Bloomfield and Ardern, New Zealand achieved a new milestone in our fight against COVID-19 on Monday: total eradication.
We have now gone three days without a new case since then.
