Real Colorful Creatures, Samantha Sanvik

REAL COLORFUL CREATURES

Samantha Sanvik Inspired by Green Woods, B.J.O. Nordfeldt

I’m reminded of the crisp new pages of my inexperienced youth, quickly turned into crumpled corners, faded lines, ripped edges. I’m reminded of the boundless possibilities that arise from a single plot. A plot that has a rise and a fall, with an ending that comes too soon.

I’m reminded of Where the Wild Things Are and the creatures that lurk behind each tree. The sharp edges as teeth gleaming around each corner and the stones and waves from the midnight ocean glistening when I look back. I’m reminded that this night too has an ending.

I’m constantly reminded of my past through your pictures, framed and hung where my eyes could not divert. A spinning circle of life that only ends where it begins. I’m reminded that these same trees, creatures, and the “komorebi” that surrounds me, directs me home again.

I’m reminded of my drive to leave just as much as I’m reminded to be grounded, to remember where I came from. I’m reminded of the chaos of this so-called life and everyone it contains. The way it could all fit into simple geometric designs while bursting with irregularity.

I’m reminded of the color purple or when I called it “blurple” and you said that wasn’t a real color. The games we played made it seem real. Real like those creatures are real. Real like the pictures engraved in my memory. Or my memory becoming a permanent picture. I am reminded of you, in the night.

Green Woods, 1950, B.J.O. Nordfeldt oil on canvas 40 1/4 × 52 inches. Collection of the Weisman Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. B. J. O. Nordfeldt

148 ABOUT ARTWORDS

ArtWords is an annual writing competition for undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Minnesota, sponsored by the Weisman Art Museum. Students select a piece of art on display from the museum’s permanent collection and create an original piece of prose or poetry in response. Selected authors are awarded prizes, published online, and given the opportunity to present their work in galleries of the museum. ArtWords is held in collaboration with the Department of English’s Creative Writing program and The Tower art and literary magazine. A jury including faculty, Weisman Art Museum staff, professionals from the Twin Cities community, and staff members of The Tower select the winning entries.

Launched in 1998, ArtWords encourages students to analyze, reflect, and respond to the diverse and stimulating collection at the Weisman Art Museum. This is The Tower’s seventh year as an ArtWords collaborator, and we are happy to present the 2020 undergraduate ArtWords winners in this year’s issue.

Judges

Claire Breitenbach, Fiction Editor and Copyeditor, The Tower Michael Curran, Communications Associate, Weisman Art Museum Douglas Kearney, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in the

Department of English at the University of Minnesota Afton Kelly, Chief Poetry Editor and Managing Editor, The Tower Miki Schumacher, Art Editor and Marketing Director, The Tower Sam Van Cook, Founder and Publisher, Button Poetry Kimberly Xayaroun, Fiction Editor and Publicist, The Tower

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