North Carolina: A State of Change, a Changing State
N C L R ONLINE
13
Fish Store Mural Relocated By Mark Smith-Soto
James Applewhite Poetry Prize Finalist A splash of light on the gray bricks, the mermaid lounges in a flowing, horizontal pose, her body – breasts cuddled behind a forearm cross – twisting so her sleepy eyes sweep the length of Lee Street. She might have woken up on this block just in time to see the skinny boy in T-shirt and huge sneakers pay for a gun in the parking lot, glimpse the wheelchaired figure on the corner waving a sign that says Vet Out of Work, Can Fix Anything. Long she flourished here, brightening the dilapidated shops, until the city felt the need to rescue her, brick by brick, to a more prosperous side of Greensboro. Her elegant tail, perfectly scaled, no longer waves, but since the workers haven’t reached her head, her smile’s unchanged. And though the coral lipstick’s cracked a bit, there’s such an openness in her face it’s no wonder we want to lead her off to a place untouched by roadside trash, where the homeless won’t huddle under her at night and let their dreams trouble the quiet tide of her green hair. Darted Mermaid (oil on canvas, 39.6x24) by Luis German Ardila
Mint Hill, NC, resident Luis German Ardila was born in Bogotá Colombia. He received his MFA, specializing in painting, from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions and has been featured in many group exhibitions. Recently, he participated in an exhibition of works by critically acclaimed North Carolina-based Latino artists at North Carolina Central University. His works are in private collections in the US, Colombia, and France, among many others worldwide. See another sample of his art on his website and with Mark Smith-Soto’s prize-winning poem in the print issue of NCLR 2013.