“JONITO” SANCHEZ 2016 CONTEMPORARY HISPANIC MARKET POSTER ARTIST
Jon Sanchez, the 2016 Contemporary Hispanic Market poster artist, says that his winning entry, LaMuerte Azul ( The Blue Death), is the second part of a series that focuses on two aspects of the celebration of death. Incidentally, the first part of the series, LaMuerte Roja ( The Red Death), took the “First Time Exhibitor” award at Contemporary Hispanic Market in 2015, the first year the 39-year-old Albuquerque native participated in the event.
Sanchez says that the azul (blue) version represents the nighttime and the actual act of dying, while the roja (red) version symbolizes resurrection or the afterlife upon death. Sanchez, who during the day is a senior graphic designer with the STEM Collaborative at the University of NewMexico, says LaMuerte Azul is a hand-pulled serigraph that began as a pencil and ink drawing then was screen printed with acrylic ink.
“Everything I screen print I draw from scratch,” say Sanchez, who studied the art form at NewMexico State University in Las Cruces. “I’m kind of the only one (in my family) who does art. I have a very supportive family. Jonito is my artist’s name.”
Sanchez adds that although he has an uncle (Arturo Sanchez) who displays his woodworking pieces at Traditional Spanish Market, he chose CHM because it better suited screen-printing and his preferred style of creating fantasy drawings and science fiction art. He also participates in many comic con and wonder con events throughout theWest.
To contact and see more of Jonito’s work, visit www.jonsanchezcreative.com.