Passionate puzzler Donnalouise Gragg says it took her 347 hours and 11 minutes.
She completed it over several months, and calculated if she had worked full eight-hour days it would have taken about 44 days to complete.
The enormous puzzle, called Travel Around Art, arrived at her home as 27 sections comprised of 2000 pieces, all packed into a suitcase.
The puzzle features an assortment of paintings by artists such as Monet, Degas, Vermeer, and van Gogh.
"It is supposed to mimic like you are walking through a gallery."
It was "so much fun" to complete, Mrs Gragg said.
She had always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles, and in the past few years this passion had become her full-time occupation.
She started her own YouTube channel called "For the Love of Puzzles" about a year ago.
"So that is kind of what I do nowadays, I puzzle full-time."
In her regular videos she takes viewers through unboxing and laying out jigsaws, and provides commentary over time-lapse footage of her completing the puzzles.
Starting a new jigsaw puzzle was an exciting moment, Mrs Gragg said.
"It is exciting, but overwhelming because you go ‘Where should I start?"’
But once she calmed down from the excitement she made a plan.
"I then just get into a flow, and you can just focus on the puzzle and nothing else."
"It's not necessarily the best thing to do."
Each puzzle was different and sometimes it was easier to fill in a busy part, for example if the border was very plain and repetitive, she said.
"One big thing, and I think people appreciate me saying this, if you start a puzzle, and you are not having fun or enjoying it, or it's too difficult, it's OK to pick it up and put it away.
"Don't force yourself to do something if you are not having fun."
Her love of puzzles has prompted Mrs Gragg to plan a trip in September to Valladolid in Spain to take part in the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships 2023.
She will join thousands of puzzle assemblers and fans from more than 50 countries.
"I believe I’ll be the first person representing New Zealand."
Mrs Gragg will compete in the individual 500-piece category where the person to beat will be 2022 individual winner Alejandro Clemente Leon, of Barcelona, in Spain, who completed a 500-piece jigsaw of a row of pastel-coloured terrace houses in 34min 25sec.
She has been practising completing 500-piece puzzles, and her fastest time so far is 1hour 16m.
She will also compete in the pairs and team categories.
The 54,000-piece puzzle is on display in South Dunedin at Wood Solutions Dunedin, in Orari St, for the next few weeks.
From 10am to 3pm weekdays, people can see the vast puzzle, plus other puzzles she has had framed as wall art.
On Wednesday afternoons, Mrs Gragg is conducting speed-puzzling demonstrations as part of her training for the world championships.
"I want people to come and be a bit of a distraction because I need to practise scenarios that are a bit noisy, because at the competition I'm going to have tons of people."
