My studio is open by appointment. Please be in touch if you are in Marfa and would like to stop by.
If you are interested in purchasing a painting or would like to join my mailing list for future shows, please contact me using the form below.
My studio is open by appointment. Please be in touch if you are in Marfa and would like to stop by.
If you are interested in purchasing a painting or would like to join my mailing list for future shows, please contact me using the form below.
ANN MARIE NAFZIGER
My work weaves together experiences and impressions from time spent in nature. The paintings incorporate my personal history, connection to the land, and a desire to express tangible and intangible worlds through color and gesture.
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Bio
Ann Marie Nafziger is an abstract painter based in Marfa, Texas. Her work, with its allusions to rocky escarpments, tangled vegetation, and deep slot canyons is linked to her fascination, since childhood, with nature as a place of refuge. Much of her time outside the studio is spent in natural environments, immersed in the vast high desert where she lives or exploring other wilderness areas and far-flung landscapes she travels to.
Nafziger received her M.F.A in Painting from The University of Houston, Houston, TX and a B.A. in Art and Communication from Goshen College, Goshen, IN. Her work has been exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally in places such as: Marfa, TX; Houston, TX; Portland, OR; New Orleans, LA; and Goshen, IN; plus institutions including: Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX; Portland Art Center, Portland, OR; Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, TX; Instituto Cultural de Mexico de Vienna, Vienna, Austria; and the U.S. Embassy, Vientiane, Laos. The artist has been featured in The Big Bend Sentinel, 2008/2021; Artnet, 2017; Artdesk, 2014; CBS News’ 60 Minutes, 2013; The New York Times, 2012; UTSA Today, 2010; Houston Press, 2008; New American Paintings, 2008; Portland Mercury, 2004, Willamette Week, 2003, and The Oregonian 2002/2003. In 2012 and 2015, Nafziger was awarded residencies at Caldera, Sisters, OR and in 2022, participated in the Golden Hour Residency, Silver City, NM. Nafziger’s work is included in private and public collections such as: City of Houston Civic Art Collection, U.S. Dept of State Art in Embassies Collection, and Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital.
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Education
2008 Master of Fine Arts, Painting, University of Houston School of Art, Houston, TX
1994 Bachelor of Arts, Art Major and Communication Minor, Goshen College, Goshen, IN
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2023 Untamed/Unzoned: Ann Marie Nafziger and Lillian Warren, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX
2021 New Work, Marfa Studio of Arts, Marfa, TX
2015 Wanderlust, Hershberger Gallery, Goshen College, Goshen, IN
2014 Field Notes, Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, TX
2012 Wilderness, Marfa Book Company, Marfa, TX
2010 The Ghost Flower and Other Tales of Enchantment, Do Right Hall, Marfa, TX
2008 Once Removed, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2005 The Last Waltz, Marfa Book Company, Marfa, TX
2004 Waiting for my Eyes to Adjust, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
2003 Paintings from Far West Texas, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
2002 Evidence, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
2001 Remnants of Old Glory, Gavin Shettler Gallery, Portland, OR
2000 Beautiful Girlhood, Thieves Guild, Portland, OR
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Memorias de Vida y Muerte, Instituto Cultural de Mexico de Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2022 25th Anniversary Silent Auction, Big Bend Conservancy, Big Bend National Park, TX
2021 Red Dot Show, Women and Their Work, Austin, TX
2019 Desert Muse, Marfa Studio of Arts, Marfa, TX
2017 Marfa Intrigue, Octavia Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2016 Project Marfa, Octavia Gallery, Houston, TX
2012 Southern Pacific, Gallery Homeland, Portland, OR
2011 Southern Pacific, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2011 Artists-in-Residence Exhibition, Caldera, Sisters, OR
2010 New Art/Arte Nuevo, UTSA Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2009 Coulda Been a Collector, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
2007 AFFAIR, Mark Woolley Gallery at Jupiter Hotel, Portland, OR
2006 Be (Blue) Sky, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
2004 Distribution, New American Art Union, Portland, OR
2004 Artists in Embassies Exhibition, U.S. Embassy, Vientiane, Laos
2003 Northwest Abstraction, Portland Art Center, Portland, OR (curated by Gavin Shettler)
2002 Emergence, Portland State University Litman Gallery, Portland, OR (curated by Jim Archer)
2001 Anniversary Exhibition, Gavin Shettler Gallery, Portland, OR
2000 Exit, Sockeye Studios, Portland, OR
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Selected Bibliography
The Big Bend Sentinel, “Studio Visit with Ann Marie Nafziger” Ingrid Schaffner, October 2021
Artists Network, “Art Openings Podcast Episode 3”, 2018
Artnet, “Marfa, Texas Just Elected an Artist as Mayor”, 2017
The Ampersand, “Artist Profile: Ann Marie Nafziger”, 2015
Artdesk, “Ann-Marie Nafziger”, Oklahoma City, 2014
Marfa Public Radio, “Ann Marie Nafziger: Field Notes”, Marfa, 2014
CBS News 60 Minutes, “Marfa, Texas: The Capital of Quirkiness”, 2013
New York Times, “The Real Artists of Marfa: Ann Marie Nafziger”, 2012
UTSA Today, “New Art/Arte Nuevo”, San Antonio, June 2010
Houston Press, “Human/Nature”, Houston, November 2008
Big Bend Sentinel, “Ann Marie Nafziger's Ghost Flower”, October 2008, David Tompkins
New American Paintings, Volume 78, 2008, Andrea Karnes, curator
The Portland Mercury, “Ann Marie Nafziger at Mark Woolley”, October 2004, Chaz Bowie
Big Bend Sentinel, “Nafziger's New Paintings”, June 2003, Robert Halpern
The Oregonian, “Critic's Picks”, February 2003, D.K. Row
Willamette Week, “First (Thursday) Impressions”, Portland, February 2003, Richard Speer
The Oregonian, “Nafziger Offers Mesmerizing Evidence” Portland, February 2003, Harvest Henderson
The Oregonian, “Eight Artists Emerging”, Portland, May 2002, D.K. Row
The Oregonian, “Art Show Prescient…” Portland, September 2001, Jean Kirsten Johnson
Willamette Week, WW Pick, Portland, September 2001, Lisa Lambert
Willamette Week, WW Pick, Portland, December 2000, Steffen Silvis
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