MEET THE 2022 OFFICIAL ZOZOBRA ARTISTS
Competition is always fierce to be an official Zozobra Artist and the 2022 art contest preserbed an exceptionally high bar for the judges because the quality and vision on display was unprecedented! Open to artists of all ages and focused on the 90s era Decades Project theme, this year’s artists rose to Zozobra-sized heights!
Says Zozobra Event Chair Ray Sandoval, “Our community was invited to judge the artwork and they were hard-pressed to choose a winner from the amazing entries. The 90s theme that inspired so much incredible artwork was a clear indication of just how much our fellow New Mexicans are going to enjoy this year’s Decades Project 90s Zozobra!”
Please join us in congratulating these amazing artists and read on to learn about the artistic journey of these super talents in their own words!
The 2022 Zozobra Poster was designed by Bobby Sandoval
Santa Fe-raised, Bobby is a down to earth local artist. And here is how he tells his story in his own words,
What can I say? Well, I can say this! Ever since I was a little boy, I always wanted to be a cartoonist. I always dreamed what it would be like. The reality of it is that most cartoonists make about 15k a year but I don’t care about the money. Don’t get me wrong, that never discouraged me. I was just amazed on how someone could create these images that would come to life. It’s really magical to animate an image. Wow! And ever since I could remember that truly has inspired me always.
Art has always been very good to me. It’s what I do and also what I love to do. It’s what I am all about. To create something from nothing into something beautiful ,and meaningful is also wonderful to experience. It is a really great feeling. It’s my therapy. I always give it my blood, sweat and tears. If God put me here to do something, it was to draw. It’s this light inside of me, like a timid candle burning deep inside my heart. I have always been a strong believer in my dreams, to never doubt yourself, ever, Just believe in yourself always, Creating this 90s-themed Zozobra poster for this year’s contest, and also being a part of the history of Will Shuster’s Zozobra Project is truly a dream come true. And to all the people, la gente, that voted for me, thank you so very much, I truly am so grateful and fortunate for everything.
The 2022 Zozobra Youth Poster was designed by Su Walker
The Zozobra Art Contest is the first and only art competition Su has ever entered! She was amazed and delighted when she received the news that her submission was chosen as the winner in the Kids Poster category.
Su is an internationally known clairvoyant and medical intuitive who began her art career just half a dozen years ago after a four decade-long hiatus. An Iowa native, Su moved to the Albuquerque area in 2014 and married three years later. In the fall of 2016, Su was asked to draw the face of a friend. It was the first sketch of a person she’d done since high school. Su has never had any formal art training.
Now, 6 years later, Su draws every day and has gained worldwide recognition for her detailed portraits of both Sasquatch and extraterrestrials. Her artwork has been featured in documentaries and has been used as illustrations for several books. This year one of her Sasquatch portraits was chosen for the cover of a book. Those who view Su’s portraits for the first time are often struck by the poignant emotional expressions she captures. For individuals who are curious, images of her Sasquatch and ET portraits can be seen on her ‘Su Walker’ YouTube channel.
2022 Zozobra T-Shirt Artist Jim Cruz
A visual designer and illustrator, Jim has lived, worked and loved in Santa Fe since the early 80s. He has a passion for visual design and loves breathing life into commercial buildings with large scale murals.
Some of Jim’s earliest designs were structures he built out of rocks and dirt from the kindergarten playground. To this day, he has a fondness for rocks and can’t resist stopping at any rock pile to find treasures for his garden.
Jim’s dad had a fully equipped metal and woodworking shop, and gave him free rein as Jim was growing up. His parents noticed his design skills, and bought him a printing press when he was ten. During middle school for a project, he designed and printed tee shirts for friends and family using hand-made silk screens. Later in his design journey, Jim earned an advanced degree in Graphic Design and an MBA in Communications.
Jim loves Santa Fe, and has witnessed the burning of Zozobra at least 30 times, rain or shine. Burning up the gloom never gets old. He always had a secret ambition to design art for the Zozobra event, but kept putting it on the back burner. This year he decided to go for it.
He lives in Santa Fe with his wife Maria, and their cat, Amelie. He has two daughters, Jenna and Ria, and recently became a grandfather.
When he’s not creating illustration and design, you can find him planting and digging in his beautiful backyard garden, dancing salsa with his wife, or backpacking and hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
The 2022 Zozobra Youth T-shirt was designed by Felix Medrano
Felix is a New Mexico native who says, “I’m 17 years old and currently attending Rio Grande High School.
Ever since I was young, I’ve always loved to create art. Whether it was painting, sculpting or drawing, I’m willing to try any kind of art activity.I’ve always found the Burning of Zozobra very interesting. I liked the idea of having a giant marionette that represents gloom getting burned down. The artwork I made was heavily inspired by 90s Marvel comics, it only took me a few days to get this artwork done.”
The 2022 Tickets Poster was designed by Mike Graham De La Rosa
The graphic artist behind Cosmic Desert Art, this earthling lifeform (H. Sapiens) has lived on both sides of the US-Mexico Borderworld downriver of federal nuclear material sites on the Rio Grande. His medium employs the use of digital brushes that create visual data in the form of layered vectors. These digital works are printed on museum quality inks and paper. Cosmic Desert prints portray the cultural and physical landscapes of the US-Mexico Borderworld. Heavily influenced by spaghetti westerns, anime, neon 66 nights, pop-music, gamer, and latinx cultures, Cosmic Desert art remixes our cultural and physical geography to create a true portrait of human life in New Mexico/Mexico.
Mike Graham De la Rosa grew up in New Mexico (a frontier area of a planet on the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way Galaxy) existing in the Mexican and American dimensions. His father moved to the high desert to aid in the human understanding of the physical properties of plutonium in federal labs. His mother was considered a “Resident Alien” and worked in printing and graphics. Living in the town of Santa Fe, Mike fell in love with the geography and biomes of New Mexico. Additionally his hometown is saturated with art and culture. Mike noticed that fine art in this context was reserved for elite humans which he undermines by creating graphic art that portrays our popular culture the desert with punk rock, anime and science fiction.
Mike Graham De la Rosa went to UNM studying Anthropology and Latin American studies while taking all the studio, film, printing and photography classes he could. He continued his artistic training for two years in Alcalá De Henares, Spain. After studying in Mexico City, Oaxaca, Recife and Rio de Janeiro, he got a Masters in Latin American Studies at UNM and co-authored a book on an Artists Print/Graffiti Movement in Oaxaca. From then on, he has dedicated his life to teaching Middle School lifeforms.
The 2022 ZozoFest Poster was designed by Robert Lorenz
Says Robert about his winning ZozoFest Poster, “I’m excited and very proud to have been chosen to represent this year’s festival with my creation. I hope everyone out there enjoys it.
I was born in Lake Tahoe California. After moving to New Mexico at the age of 8, I was raised and lived here until shortly after spending a few years at a local graphic design school, then I moved to Washington state. It was there that I spent the next four years engaged in a traditional tattoo apprenticeship and also went on to work the professional tattoo convention circuit for 15 years. I finally moved back home to New Mexico recently.
I decided to participate in this year’s ZozoFest simply because of the children that are impacted by the benefits of this tradition. “SHUSTER’S PAST” was created using the specific guidelines in order to create a visual communication through art. 90s party vibes, Pokémon, and flannel shirts are the foundation that the whole concept was built around.
2022 ZOZOBRA TICKET ARTISTS CREATED AMAZING WORK
Esteban Gonzales’ memorable artwork will make this year’s Zozobra 2022 tickets total collectors’ items
A concept by Rena Manning paired with artwork by Bob Boucher, a graphic designer/illustrator/photographer/sculptor originally from Boston, then San Francisco, then Austin, now Santa Fe. Bob and Rena entered the contest because they’re somewhat new to Santa Fe, and wanted to jump right in!
Jennifer M. Gutierrez is a native New Mexican who has an interest in folk art and icons from the southwestern United States. Her depictions are often whimsical! She had a 30-year career as an Assistant, Teacher, and Art teacher in pre- and elementary schools. She likes to create Zozobra themed art, because it is fun!
My name is Nevaeh Apodaca. I am from Santa Fe New Mexico. I entered the 2022 Zozobra Art Contest because I thought it would be fun and a good experience to represent my community through my art.
My name is Jessica Knox. I am a Political Science student at UNM. I entered the Zozobra Art Contest because I have always enjoyed making art and I love a good competition.
My name is Joseph Montoya. For the last 15 years I have been working in Orlando Florida with the Walt Disney Company as a performer and recently returned home to Rio Rancho to pursue my art career.