�������t¶��

“They’re really, really passionate people who just fight for what they love,” Nicole Santero, a fan who ran a data-focused BTS Twitter account, told The Times in 2020.

“I’m a devout Catholic, and I do this as meditation, as a form of prayer,” said López, who’s been a santero for five decades and whose family hails from this village perched on a ridge at 7,000 feet.

“Saints are the spiritual go-to, they can be highly powerful,” said Victor Goler, a master santero who just completed conserving the altarpieces, or “reredos,” in Las Trampas’ mid-18th century church.

“Four hundred years ago, life was very difficult in this part of the world,” explained Felix López, a master “santero” – the artists who sculpt, paint and conserve saint figures in New Mexico’s unique devotional style.

“Four hundred years ago, life was very difficult in this part of the world, the remote inland frontier of the Spanish empire,” explained Felix López, a master “santero” – the artists who sculpt, paint and conserve saint figures in New Mexico’s unique devotional style, born of historical isolation.