Jerry Vigil, Chicano Artista

Santos Gallery

In New Mexico images of saints (santos) were known as bultos (sculptures) and retablos (paintings on wood). Local woods--aspen and cottonwood root for bultos and pine for retablos--were used; water-based paints were made from local and imported vegetable and mineral pigments.
In the late 1700s increasing numbers of religious images made in New Mexico took their place alongside imported pieces in churches and homes. Grounded in the Spanish Catholic tradition and evolving art styles of Europe, a unique local aesthetic peculiar to New Mexico developed on the northern frontier of New Spain. At least a dozen santeros, or saint-makers, were active in New Mexico by the 1820s and had developed a style that is distinctly New Mexican in character.

excerpted from an article by Donna Pierce in
Spanish New Mexico, The Spanish Colonial Arts Society Collection

Of course New Mexico does not have the only Santero/as, they just think they do! As the tide of settlement went north, southern Colorado was populated by Spanish speaking pioneers and settlers. The Santos tradition followed.

I practice the Santos Tradition and I also contemporize the tradition. I use modern tools and materials as well as theme and vision.