Febrero 2020: Exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) arrives to the Chicago Cultural Center
Sikán’s image is paramount in all these works because, like myself, she led and leads –through me-, a disquieting life, looking insistently for a way out
Belkis Ayón, January, 1998
I see myself as Sikán, since I am the observer, the mediator and the taleteller: I invent the images based on my studies and my experiences, since I am not a believer, and as I see her, I see myself
Belkis Ayón, November, 1998
I favor collographs because I like the materials, working with the materials, their texture
Belkis Ayón, Novembre, 1998
… Although my work deals with a topic as specific as the beliefs, rites and myths of the Abakuá secret society, this does not mean that I have dedicated my work only to the sector of the population that professes and practices this faith. I am interested above all in questioning everything human, that fleeting feeling, the spiritual.
Thus it may be understood by an international public, even when it is very difficult to get away from the impression, the shapes, the image at first sight…