Lucha de Ultratumba

My childhood nostalgia for iconic wrestlers inspires this relief print.   In this day and age in Mexico’s culture, there is a lack of heroism, even if it is within fantasy.  When I was a child, not all luchadors were physical brutes but athletic gentlemen who were courageous, heroic, and role models with integrity.  Their stardom in the ring propelled them to multimedia phenomena.  Their personas were majestic, and their powers were heightened by masculinity while always being moral and virtuous.  Their wrestling skills adapted to battling evil forces while captivating the hearts and minds of their audiences.  The wrestlers transcended the ring and became stars of the big screen, fighting zombies, gangsters, and even aliens.  How this work manifests into today’s culture is the constant presence of violence in Mexico’s culture.  There is a lack of role models and hope. Today’s generation of youth, along all border towns, do not know any other way of life.  The youth have had to grow up amidst the worst atrocities of violence humankind is capable of.  For so long, people have forgotten what peace and being safe means.  I am fortunate to belong to a generation that could enjoy the simple pleasure of playing within our neighborhood and being amongst friends, even if it was dark, without fear of abductions or the sounds of violence. 

The title “Ultratumba” was inspired by Mexico’s greatest printmaker, Jose Guadalupe Posada. Ultratumba means from beyond the grave or the afterlife. The work displays the super heroic luchador surrounded by motifs taken from Mayan, Aztec, and Olmec iconography. Like Posada, this work is an act of activism created within the spirit of seeking justice, honor, and cherishing one’s own culture.

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Lucha de Ultratumba

24” x 36”

relief print linoleum