Zulueta spent his early years on the island of Oahu in Hawaii and in San Diego, California.[1] He attended San Diego State College in 1970, where he studied arts and crafts.[4]
Zulueta's style of neo-tribal tattooing has been influential to other tattoo artists.[6] In 1989, he was featured in the RE/Search publication Modern Primitives.[7] In 1992, Zulueta founded Black Wave Tattoo in Los Angeles, California, which he sold in 2000.[1] In 2007, he was featured on TLC's Tattoo Wars with his protégé Rory Keating.[3]
Zulueta currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he operates Spiral Tattoo.[1]
References
Leo Zulueta at Spiral Tattoo. Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 2011
^ abcdefgAquino, Joann Natalia (March 2012), "Leo Zulueta: The Father of Modern Tribal Tattooing Celebrates 30 Years in the Black", Skin and Ink