Marie Romero Cash

(b. 1942)

Tree of Life, 1993

Wood, natural pigments and stamped tinwork   

43 x 22 x 13 inches

Provenance:

Elizabeth Boeckman, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Imagery in the piece, from bottom upwards: Snake (Garden of Eden); Nativity; Crucifixion; St. Michael the Archangel on left, Our Lady of Sorrows on right;  bishop on left (the one Juan Diego presented the Guadalupe robe to), Our Lady of Guadalupe on right; Santiago; Holy Spirit on top. 

Eight attendant angels surround the piece. 

Tinwork done by Bobby Romero.

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“The tree of life is an iconic representation throughout the history of art dating back to the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. In New Mexican Santero art, early unpainted examples were created by Jose Dolores Lopez, the patriarch of the Cordova carvers.” – Marie Romero Cash

One of New Mexico’s most renowned santeras, Marie Romero Cash is a well-known award-winning folk artist and writer in Santa Fe where she has lived most of her life.  The daughter of prominent traditional tinwork artists, the late Senaida and Emilio Romero, Marie has created art for a number of churches in the United States and in Mexico, including Stations of the Cross for the Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe. She has participated in the annual Spanish Market in Santa Fe for over 45 years, having won many awards for both traditional and contemporary works. As a writer, her early works focused on research-based books about the culture and churches of Northern New Mexico, along with a memoir about growing up in Santa Fe in the 1950s.  A number of years ago she began to write a mystery series based around Santa Fe featuring Jemimah Hodge, a forensic psychologist. A romantic novel about the Pueblo Revolt began as a screenplay over ten years ago when she was a student at Lesley College in Boston. Her most recent book is a novel rather than a mystery, “The Word Thief.” She is currently working on another memoir and a new screenplay. Her works are in the following collections: the Museum of International Folk Art; the Albuquerque Museum; the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art; the Smithsonian Institute; the Vatican; the Archdiocese of Santa Fe; the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; and many private collections.