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San Marcos artist embraces the beauty of broken things

“The Spring Shaman” was displayed as part of an exhibit at Wake the Dead in February.

San Marcos artist embraces the beauty of broken things

“Sakura & Saline.” Photos by Pixx E. Legion

San Marcos artist embraces the beauty of broken things

“The Natural Order.” Photo by Pixx E. Legion

San Marcos artist embraces the beauty of broken things

Sunday, March 20, 2022
“Nothing is ever so broken that it can’t be made beautiful again.” — Pixx E. Legion

San Marcos artist Pixx E. Legion began their journey into art in middle school when they stumbled upon a decomposing deer carcass in the woods.

“I was babysitting for a friend,” Pixx explained. “I took the kids on a hike through the woods, and I found all these deer ribs.”

What might have repulsed someone else inspired Legion with creativity. “I thought, ‘I’m going to make something with these.’”

Pixx ended up collecting the bones for a mobile they made for their Mom, sparking a lifelong interest in making art from dead and broken things.

Pixx creates bright and visually-interesting 3-D sculptures out of skulls, bones, vintage objects and crystals.

“I’ve always loved weird stuff, like skulls and crystals and plants,” Pixx said. “But I also like to dress it up. I have the crystals and the sparkles. There are floral paintings on them, and carvings. I really try to make it seem like death is beautiful, too. I want people to see that. That’s how I’ve always seen it.”

Born in Austin and raised in Wimberley, Pixx E. Legion has been a long-time member of the San Marcos arts community, working as a host and organizer of the Abracadavar market, held in the courtyard of Wake the Dead Coffee House every first Saturday of the month.

Two weeks after graduating from Wimberley High School, Pixx moved to California, spending the next several years studying musical theater in both New York and Los Angeles, which helps them in their day job as a children’s entertainer.

“I work for a children’s entertainment company out of New Braunfels where I play different Disney princesses for kids birthday parties and events,” Pixx said. “It’s very fulfilling. I’m glad I get to use my degree for something.”

After moving back and forth across the country several times, Pixx felt the pull to return home.

Once again putting their philosophy of creating beautiful, useful things from broken objects, Pixx built their own tiny house to facilitate a life-long dream of someday traveling with their art. Once again, Pixx put their philosophy of rebuilding broken things into action.

“It took a while to find the bones for it,” Pixx said. “I found a very old, vintage 76 trailer. It was in pretty bad shape, so we had to gut the entire thing. That was my big quarantine project.”

Pixx now lives in their tiny house with their two tiny dogs, creating their art from a murphy-style desk of their own design.

Pixx also runs their own pop-up small busi ness selling jewelry, art and crystals in various markets around the Hill Country. “I’ve had my business for a while where I do small things like jewelry and little, tiny dreamcatchers but I’ve gotten a big demand for these really big pieces now.”

As a person with a musical theater background, Pixx always considered themselves to be more of a musical artist, so having a demand for their Pretty Wicked art has been an unexpected but welcome surprise. “It’s pretty cool to have this outlet in which people are interested in seeing my physical art,” Pixx said.

Pixx describes their art as, “A little bit of everything. Whatever flight of fancy hits me.” However, their work is more than something that looks good hanging on a wall. Pixx also embraces a philosophy of sustainability, responsibility and affordability that is embodied in every piece they make.

Pixx collects and cleans all of the corpses and bones themself. All herbal products are either grown by Pixx or sustainably sourced or foraged. Additionally, Pixx believes that artwork should be accessible to everyone, and so they endeavor to make their work affordable to anyone who wants to own a piece.

“You take sustainability and things that look cool and you take making it affordable, and that’s pretty wicked,” Pixx said. “I see beauty in everything that has or has had life. And if they don’t have life in them any more, I want to give them a new life and make them shine again. Even something that is broken. Nothing’s ever so broken that it can’t be made beautiful again.”

In keeping with that idea, Pixx’s long-term focus now is on Sow the Dead: revitalizing the garden and courtyard area of Wake the Dead that was damaged in last year’s heavy snows.

“I want to really bring life back into the garden this spring,” Pixx said. “We’re hoping for a full irrigation system and some misters on the back patio. I want to put in a water feature. “My big pipe dream is to be the Best of Hays Courtyard. I want to make it awesome enough to get there.”

Pixx has started an Instagram page called Sow the Dead and a GoFundMe page (gofund. me/2a397ccd) to raise money for the garden project.

“I’ve always felt drawn to this place,” Pixx said. “It used to be a graveyard, part of the San Marcos Cemetery. This whole area used to be part of the original graveyard. The Gedry witches were supposed to be buried near here. This whole place has that vibe. It’s in the bones.”

Like Pixx’s artwork, their plans for the courtyard expand into something sustainable and encompassing. “Workshops, cutting tutorials, make-your-own succulent spheres, permaculture classes,” Pixx said. “I’d like to turn the garden into more of a community space.”

To view Pixx’s artwork, view the artist’s profiles on Instagram at @prttywkd and on Facebook at facebook.com/prttywkdofficial. Pixx can be found at local markets, including the Mermaid Festival, where the artist specializes in making mermaid crowns.

Sow the Dead

The official account for the gardens at Wake the Dead.

Instragram: @sowthedead

GoFundMe: gofund.me/2a397ccd

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666