Over the next few weeks, SVA will be highlighting some of the many outstanding projects by its 2018 Alumni Scholarship Award winners. Today's featured works are by BFA Photography and Video student Ken Castaneda, whose photographs of Mexican lucha libre wrestlers speak to issues regarding Latinx American identity, the American family, public and private, and performed gender and masculinity.

Tell us about your project. What inspired the idea?
This year I have been tackling the idea of using lucha libre as a way to speak about different issues and politics revolving around race, gender, sexuality, machismo and Latinx American identity and what that looks like in 2018. I have vivid memories of watching lucha libre at home with my family in New Jersey. The sport is so performative and high action, and held secrets that my brother and I always tried to unlock and mimic (which I don't recommend without parental supervision). So for this body of work I have my own wrestling persona, as do my family members, and I have been photographing us in action, fighting and brawling, seeing what the outcome would be. Ultimately the work deals with the desires of fulfilling the role of a persona, juggling between public and private access and unleashing the inner desires of the self through the act of performing as a masked wrestler.

What most surprised you once you started working on the project?
At first, I was not sure how far my family would actually go with it, but once the masks arrived, my mom and dad went into full action mode. The first shoot with them fighting was so magical because suddenly they weren't my parents standing before me; they transformed, and I made some striking images that helped me form some of my thesis around the work. Also I was surprised to find out how comfortable I was with my own self as a performer and the limits I would go to make a photo. I'm still challenging myself as the work is being made, but I think I am off to a rewarding start thanks to the support around me.

Features

"The sport is so performative and high action, and held secrets that ... I always tried to unlock."