El Anatsui, Ghanaian, 1944

Lily,

We've probably walked past this piece a hundred times without ever realizing it. It's never been one we've ever stopped to admire or talk about, but it's been there for as long as we've been going to the museum together.

El Anatsui assembles large scale sculptors out of a variety of recycled materials, specifically the cans and bottle caps of locally produced alcohol. The Nelson purchased it at the Venice Biennale, which we have always talked about going to. I thought this made it even more fitting for our story and as a gift to you.

It's complex, it's colorful, it's intriguing- it is the essence of you.

The piece is adaptable. Anatsui encourages owners to let the piece take a different form every time it is displayed. It acclimates to change in a way so elegantly you'd never assume it had been anything different. For this reason, it reminds me of you.

I gift you this piece as a ray of sunshine in your rainy Seattle.

With love,
Reid

Editor's Note: Students were asked to give a painting to someone they cared for. These are their moving responses. 
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