Talon Claybrook (Mvskoke (Muskogee))

Digital Media

This year’s artwork is Mouse, Spider, and Toad Save Man

"There was a man lying asleep. Nobody could wake him. The toad said he could figure it out. When the he lay upside down he said, "Way up high Twisted Horn had taken the man's heart, if someone can get it back, the man will live." The little mouse said he could do it if someone could make him a ladder. The spider said she could make a ladder high enough. The mouse climbed the ladder and found the place where Twisted Horn was lying. The mouse found the box where Twisted Horn kept the hearts, but it was locked. The mouse began to gnaw at the box. The mouse kept gnawing until he made a hole in the box. Through the hole, the mouse could see many hearts. Some hearts already dead and one heart that was still alive.He started back down the ladder, but before he did, he scolded Twisted Horn. When the mouse placed the heart back into the man, he woke up and thought he had only been sleeping. The mouse, the spider, and the toad told him that twisted Horn took his heart and he wouldn't be alive if they hadn't helped him."

Talon Claybrook is an alumni of the University of Oregon and received his Masters of Fine Arts in 2019.