In this work, Ayón reflects on the legend of the princess Sikán—the only woman featured in the lore of Abakuá, an Afro-Cuban, all-male secret society that originated in Nigeria in the early 1800s. Sikán was sacrificed for discovering a sacred fish, depicted here on the lower-center panel of this altarpiece-like print. Ayón conjures multiple incarnations of Sikán, including a figure in white—signifying death within the Abakuá society— as well as densely textured apparitions. Ayón once explained Sikán’s oppression at the hands of patriarchal aggression, noting that, like the artist herself, Sikán lived "in restlessness, looking insistently for a way out."

Gallery label from

Vital Signs: Artists and the Body, November 3–February 22, 2024

Medium Collagraph on nine sheets of paper
Dimensions overall:108 7/8 × 85" (276.5 × 215.9 cm); sheets (.a-.c): 27 7/16 × 28 5/16" (69.7 × 71.9 cm); sheets (.d-.i): 40 3/16 × 28 3/16" (102 × 71.6 cm)
Printer Belkis Ayón, Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), Havana, Cuba
Edition 4
Credit Riva Castleman Endowment Fund
Object number 213.2023.a-i
Department Drawings and Prints

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