Mixed form artist Lou Sandoval is striking back at depression in an effort to raise awareness for the debilitating mental health condition that has affected him and millions of other people around the world.
Next week, the 60-year-old screenwriter will embark on a 33-hour punching marathon at Cops & Kids, a boxing gym in Brooklyn, New York.
The New Mexico native, who spends much of his time in Los Angeles, completed 24 consecutive hours of punching a heavy bag earlier this year. He is now set to kick off his next endurance feat on April 15 during Holy Week. The week precedes Easter, marking the end of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer and fasting that leads up to the holiday.
“I began my punching milestone hours at the number 12—12 being a holy number. The next was 18, then 24 in January,” the Catholic artist told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.
“It was decided that the next milestone would be 33—33 being the age Jesus of Nazareth was killed.”
Thirty-three also marks the age that Sandoval—who took up drawing around the same time—was when he visited his first art exhibition, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. That moment proved to be pivotal in the trajectory of the artist’s career.
After seeking formal training from a local New Mexico oil portraitist, Sandoval later took up bronze sculpting. He has since commissioned pieces for a variety of professional athletes and celebrities, such as the “Passion of the Christ” actor Jim Caviezel and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis.
However, despite his professional successes, Sandoval’s life hasn’t been without setbacks. His battle with heavy drinking eventually landed him in jail in 2019, when he was charged with driving under the influence while riding his motorcycle.
He’s also contended with major depressive episodes, the first of which occurred following the back-to-back deaths of his father and grandmother.
“The second and much more vicious encounter came about a little over a year ago,” Sandoval recalled.
“Addiction and depression are everywhere. No family, almost no adult, has been spared the scars from these weapons of mass destruction of the human soul,” he said, crediting his faith for helping him overcome his own struggles.
“It’s said that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. That apathy, that resignation, which I had never experienced before, was Hell on Earth,” he said.
Fighting Addiction, Depression
Sandoval has undertaken weeks of arduous training in preparation for his punching marathon, including undergoing 33 hours of sleep deprivation last month.Sandoval’s effort to nab the title is being chronicled in a forthcoming feature documentary, produced by Emmy-nominated filmmakers Craig Syracusa and Jake Ehrlich. The film will feature interviews with a variety of celebrities, doctors, and boxers who have also battled depression and addiction.
“A documentary of this style and format will combine so many elements of struggle, defeat and triumph,” Syracusa said in a statement.
“Virtually no family, on some level, existing in our culture has not been repudiated from the devastating and deadly tentacles of addiction and depression,” the faith-based talk show host shared.
“We feel that a movie that looks inside at the enemy of depression will help break the stigma that many feel when confronting their own mental health issues. Lou is doing something profound to help others defeat depression with the fight of faith.”
Sandoval said he was honored to be featured in the documentary, adding that he hopes the film will inspire others to break the devastating cycles of addiction and depression.
“If I can demonstrate a pathway for others in their discipline and faith, then I would have fulfilled the mission,” he said. “I don’t know many people, particularly men, who admit to being in a state of depression or ever being depressed. And I get it.
“I have friends who have died because they could never embrace the humility required to seek fellowship or help,” he continued. “When it comes to addiction and depression, a miracle is required. But you have to take accountability and [be humble] when the miracle occurs.”
Sandoval said finding excitement in hope is also key.
“Enduring inspiration and inspiring endurance—going the distance. During my depression, I thought that hope was dead or a lie,” he said. “But now, by no real choice of my own, I’ve been asked to be a symbol of something real.
“The aspiration is to remind other souls in doubt that if that old little guy can do it, I can do it. For me, it’s all about gearing souls up for combat.”
