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Celebrating Meow Wolf Staff Artists
Check out some of our talented staff’s work: Artwork curated by Quinn Fati.
October 12, 2022
It’s uncommon to find a workplace full of artists, but at Meow Wolf you can’t get very far without coming across a creator of some sort. Creativity is the oxygen that keeps Meow Wolf alive. It’s how we build immersive, impactful, and innovative experiences as a collaborative team.
We asked our staff: Do you make things? Beautiful things? Not-so-beautiful things? Things that make you feel good when you make them? Things that are authentic to your you-est you? Do you pull things out of your brain and into this existence? Do you pull things out of other dimensions and into this one?
All Meow Wolf employees were invited to share their work with us. Quinn Fati, our Brand Social Media Manager—and a member of our editorial team—has curated a list below from the submissions we received.
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About Bjarni: “I've worked as a cinematographer & editor for 20+ years, where I have the honor of utilizing my talents in photography, cinematography, and post-production. I am an ADDY Award-winning Director, Creative Director, and Editor. I am a published photographer, as well as a Webby Award-nominated Creative Director and Graphic Designer. I love technology and have been doing IT Sys Admin work for 10 plus years now. Creativity and IT go hand in hand for me.”
About the work: “This was a super cool spec music video I did for Kap Bambino where I re-edited a bunch of cool footage that I did for a commercial for the Arizona Underground Film Festival, and re-edited in my beat editing style.”
Find Bjarni: @mjolnircreative on IG
About Fran: “I have a terrible memory. I enjoy capturing different types of portraiture as a way of remembering a person or creature to my fullest ability; remembering their energy, how they take up space, the truthfulness in their presence and the emotional information they present unconsciously.”
About the work: “I work primarily with ink and gouache depicting special moments of mundane situations. My subject matter ranges from various animals to human portraiture. I like to feature creatures caught in a moment of thought, deep focus, disassociation, or confusion.”
Find Fran: www.francescasearer.com, @franch_frys on IG
NOTE: Erin Barnes is the author of “Glory Guitars”. Cover art is by Joel Amat Guell.
About Erin: A neurodiverse girl in a ‘90s suburban world, Gogo Germaine was born with a lollipop swirl brain, gothkitty heart, and lightning bolt soul. She became a band publicist, music journalist, and writer devoted to exploring rebellion and the grey areas of life. She helped start what was rumored to be a sex cult in a haunted bordello in a ghost town, gave birth to two love children, and wrote such subversive things that she was estranged from half of her family and friends in one year. Gogo currently spends her days working in a phantasmagorical wonderland.
About the work: She wrote Glory Guitars for the singular goal of capturing the feeling of the air as she ran across a field to ditch school, totally free of responsibility. It became a hopeful platform for her to reclaim her agency and make sense of all the heartbreak she was running from: the heartbreak of being a differently-wired girl in a predatory world. She is no longer a danger-seeking asshole. “Glory Guitars, Memoir of a `90s Teenage Punk Rock Grrrl” is officially available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold. It will crash into bookstores nationwide on October 11, 2022, International Day of the Grrrl.
Find Erin: @gogogermaine on IG, www.facebook.com/gogogermaine
About Monika: Monika Guerra (she/they) is a Mexican-American contemporary artist born in Southern California and raised in Southern New Mexico. Guerra's studio practice explores and creates different planes of existence through painting and photography, where she constantly questions and searches for the unknowns of our universe. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Certificate in Business & Entrepreneurship from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2022. Her most recent achievements have included working as an Artistic Development & Production Intern at Meow Wolf and exhibiting at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, NM.
About the work: This mixed media painting (oil, acrylic, spray paint) is inspired by three of Monika’s favorite artists: Leonardo Da Vinci, Keith Haring, and George Condo. The main subject consists of da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine” mixed with signature visuals of Condo and Harings’ work.
Find Monika: https://www.monikaguerra.com, @monika.guerra on IG
About Michael: “The act of expression is what drives me, and the feeling of the pen on paper.”
About the work: “My work is inspired by dreamscapes and LSD.”
Find Michael: @barbaricleather on IG
About Pedro: “My band Steppadelic and I are really inspired by roots reggae music and the sound system culture that evolved from it. We try to deliver a live rendition of that world in our shows, and take you on a trip through heavy drum and bass in a roots reggae fashion.”
About the work: “This song was inspired by all the tough times we have all been facing lately. This song is meant to uplift anyone going through a tough time, and a reminder that sometimes we have to face our problems head first in order to overcome them.”
Find Pedro: Personal IG: @_stryvah, Band IG: @Steppadelic, Youtube Channel, Spotify
About Max: Max Neutra has painted nationally and internationally for Meow Wolf, and independently as well.
About the work: “I have been making bunnies for years. There is something about their shape that I love to play with. Always searching for the perfect curve. Each one has its own unique personality, and they seem to come alive.”
Find Max: www.maxneutra.com, @maxneutra on IG
About Ashley: “In the past 3 years, I’ve taken leaps with new ideas in digital drawing with my tablet. This has allowed me to try different ideas that later would be transferred to canvas. I have been creative my whole life, and submerging myself in art is an escape to express ideas whilst also being vulnerable to a degree, enabling a cathartic experience. I’ve always struggled with feeling like a piece of artwork is incomplete, and for many years had piles of unfinished work collecting dust. This year I vowed to finish some of these pieces and move down a new path.”
About the work: “Parietal Reality” was inspired by the spiritual journey.
Find Ashey: @LeeLeesArts on IG, https://www.facebook.com/LeeLeesarts/
About Zulian: “I am inspired to create my work through different colors and various materials that can be used to accumulate into a dynamic, abstracted form. A lot of my work is inspired by places I’ve experienced, such as my childhood and my dreams.”
About the work: “It is an installation series inspired by living organisms and creatures. The various forms in this series are animals with a mind and body that grows into abstracted beings that aren’t alive on this earth.”
Find Zulian: @zulianzena on IG
About Troy: “I make art because it makes me happy. It’s pretty simple. It's a way to bring to life the things that you see when your eyes are closed. Everything I make is based on past experiences and encounters. It’s like a collection of visual fragments coming together to make one form. Stone is the best and worst medium. You can’t control it, you can’t predict it, all you can do is hope it works with you long enough to get to an aesthetically satisfying end.”
Find Troy: @mr_ponyboy on IG
About Lance: Lance Ryan McGoldrick is an interdisciplinary artist working in a variety of nontraditional contexts. His work ranges from discrete objects to immersive environments, often created with combinations of found objects, light, and geometry. Incorporating youthful exuberance, his work explores environmental themes as a reflection of place and with a reverence for nature. His work appears in non-traditional spaces as well as in galleries, at festivals, and as public art installations.
About the work: “This is my most recent work, created for The Mid-Nite Theater Festival at FUSION Theatre in Albuquerque. This work is an exploration of my fascination with abandonment and the transient nature of the Home.”
Find Lance: www.LanceRyanMcGoldrick.com, @Lancefer_the_red_rider on IG
About Jeff: “My bio would be long and boring as my career has mostly been in Business and Human Resources, but I am a creative person, and creative people have to create! Almost all of my art has been made outside of work for my own enjoyment. It is the process that drives me more than anything else. Meow Wolf is the first employer I've had that gives me space to be creative. I am grateful beyond words for the opportunity!”
About the work: “I have been working with papier-mâché for about 13 years now. I still make it the old-fashioned way, with flour, water, and old newspapers. My wife and I love parades and I made this for her to pull in the Dairy Block Petite Parade. Pink elephants have always been a favorite theme of mine. This is just one of many that I have made over the years.”
