Nicki Marx

Nicki Marx Obituary

Surrounded by loving friends, Nicki Marx peacefully passed away June 20, 2023. She presented herself on Oct. 3, 1943 and in a sense never stopped presenting.

She was preceded in death by her parents Donald and Ruth (Ungar) Marx. She had her dad’s chutzpa and her mom’s entrepreneurial drive and social consciousness. Bob Kriebel, her partner of many years, predeceased her in 2021.  Close family members are brother Gary, nephews Josh and Ben and grandniece and nephews Sal, Nate, Julien and Simon.

She was born into a crafts manufacturing family (wood burning sets, shell craft jewelry). This emphasis carried into her life’s work as an arts and crafts artist using natural materials. She mastered the art of intricate assemblage using feathers, shells, rocks, coral, bones, mica and soil. She was raised in beautiful natural environments in Los Angeles with a view of the ocean and in Palm Springs amidst a date and citrus grove. She had a visceral and political connection with nature. She saw her work as a celebration of wild beauty and threats to the environment.

She wrote, "My work is a personal celebration of life and an exploration of natural materials. The process of working is for me a ritual, a dance, a prayer of thanksgiving and a plea for survival. I believe that our culture is sorely lacking in meaningful ritual and celebration and is lacking a deep, respectful awareness of nature.” The work sought to create unity by merging of the dark and the light, “…through dealing with death, life’s counterpart. The work is connected to ancient traditions yet is related to modem forms and ideas. I am acutely aware of the materials with which I work: of how they invoke the peaceful, the intimate and the delicate, yet also the violent, grand and awesome beauty found in nature. These materials allow me to celebrate the earth's mystery, vitality and power."

She attended the University of California at Riverside and took additional courses at Santa Cruz. She first moved to Taos in the late 1970s. She worked with feathers much of her life, taking a break to make jewelry and work with encaustic paint and mica and then returned to feathers. She learned from, and was encouraged by, native American artists Fritz Scholder and Charles LoLoma.

Her work appeared in more than 50 one-person and invitational exhibitions and is in public, private, and museum collections (including that of Georgia Okeeffe and the Harwood in Taos). She was awarded a McDowell Colony fellowship and other honors.

In the spirit of the 60s, she did “her own thing, in her own time” –she did it her way. To be sure it was never easy and there was struggle, sadness and regret. Her single-minded, intense commitment to her art colored her life. She followed her passion and did the work. Her work was her progeny. As poor health and poverty cavalcaded, she remained in charge, even to the very end.

Her great grandmother loved to say, “you’ve got to know when you have the blue bird”. When Nicki gathered special shells from a hidden beach near Santa Cruz, smelled the El Salto Taos mountain air at the cabin she built, sat by the river flowing behind her Picuris home or created her photographic record of years of sunsets on the sacred plains across from her studio, she had that blue bird!

Her parents said that it was important in life to leave the world a better place than you found it. There is no doubt that Nicki succeeded in doing this through her many deep, long lasting friendships and the beautiful, evocative art that she created.

Additional information and images are at www.nickimarx.com

Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home, Taos.  To share a memory, please visit our website at www.riverafuneralhome.com