Santa Fe artist, sculptor, dancer had global reach

Oct. 6—Tigre Mashaal-Lively, a queer Santa Fe artist, dancer and activist who spoke up for the Black and transgender communities, died Saturday, leaving behind a unique legacy of creativity and social justice.

Mashaal-Lively, 37, has had various murals and sculptures exhibited across the globe, including at the Lightning in a Bottle and Electric Forest music festivals.

Most recently, Mashaal-Lively led the project Facing the Fearbeast. The sculpture of a giant, black dragon-like creature that is staring down a small child made its debut at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nev., in late August.

Over the years, Mashaal-Lively, who used the pronoun they, dove deep into their emotions to create art and tell stories that would touch lives everywhere they went.

"Tigre had such a zest for life and such an ability to connect with people at such a deep level," said Mashaal-Lively's mother, Linda Marshall. "Nobody that crossed paths with them ever forgot who they were."

Marshall said though Mashaal-Lively was the type of person who was always laughing and joking around, they would also find themselves in some dark places. She said the artist often struggled with their sense of self-worth and identity as a genderqueer trans person.

"I want to acknowledge that they took their own life," Marshall said during an interview. "I think Tigre struggled with a sense of unworthiness for various reasons, some of which I think are inherited trauma."

"You can see in their art that they were dealing with the transgender experience and having both male and female soul," she added.

Besides their mother, Mashaal-Lively leaves behind their father Donald Lively, their partner Jhana Goldenflame and the many friends and colleagues they made throughout their career.

Those who worked with Mashaal-Lively remembered them for their unique creative vision and ability to connect people through their work.

"They were really quick-witted and smart, and their ideas have always been kind of grand adventures," said fellow dancer Anastasia Louise, who met Mashaal-Lively when they joined the dance troupe Bad Anki Sista. "They always had huge ideas, and they always had people around them that were excited about making these ideas come to fruition."

"No matter what project they were working on, it was really all about community building and creating work that could help people see from each other's perspective," said Form and Concept gallery director Jordan Eddy.

The Solacii was one of those projects that helped strengthen the local art community after an unknown arsonist lit the display on fire, just months after it was installed outside the Form and Concept art gallery in 2021. The 21-foot sculpture depicting a towering figure in a cloak with its arms reaching out was meant to be a symbol of solace and shelter.

Eddy said Louise and some of Mashaal-Lively's fellow artists came together to help rebuild The Solacii, recreating its cloak with sentimental garments that were donated by locals.

They also helped found the Braided Branches Collective, and created O'Gah Po'Geh, a wooden altar made of manipulated branches that was displayed at the Santa Fe Railyard Park.

Mashaal-Lively was born in Philadelphia in 1985 and had an interest in artistic expression since they were a young child. Marshall said they were always curious, always dancing and even held a pencil as they learned to walk.

"It was like somehow they knew that a pencil was important, and once they could start using a pencil, they were constantly drawing," Marshall said.

Mashaal-Lively attended Bennington College in Vermont and earned a bachelor's degree in art. Marshall said that after graduating, Mashaal-Lively spent some time in Philadelphia working as a teacher and traveled around the world to create installations for music festivals.

Mashaal-Lively had a love for the desert that drew them to New Mexico, eventually moving to Santa Fe in 2019.

In 2020, Mashaal-Lively was moved by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the Black Lives Matter movement and was inspired to connect art and activism. They co-founded the Earthseed Black Arts Alliance — a nonprofit that supports Black art and artists in Northern New Mexico — along with fellow creatives Raashan Ahmad and Nikesha Breeze.

"Bringing justice for everyone became integral to who they are. [Santa Fe] became a place where they could have a voice that was heard and there was a community that was willing to embrace their art," Marshall said.