By Marissa Del Toro and Cecilia Fajardo-Hill
Spring 2025
“Imaginary Body” explores the art of Frances Salomé España, Ken Gonzales- Day, and Teddy Sandoval, who tap into various notions of identity construction through character development or narrative-based practices. They consider the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, and other forms of liminality through lateral storytelling, speculative narration, and counternarrative. Collectively, their work seeks to potentially write or rewrite histories to reverse imperialistic notions of identity, gender, and body. España’s fragmented and imaginative films channel personal and collective memories to conceptually narrativize the notion of Nepantla, or “in-between-ness.” Gonzales-Day’s photo series Ramonicita taps into his personal and family archive to reimagine the possible existence of a two-spirit ancestor from the nineteenth century. Sandoval’s playful and subversive works employ a Chicanx pop aesthetic to challenge established conventions of masculinity and gender.
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