“Her collographs represent a universe of relationships and complex contemporary issues that touch upon all spheres of society (ethical values, justice, power, dogma, intolerance, censorship, fear, impotence, violence, freedom) that undoubtedly exceed the issues of gender, race, and even religion. The marked interest with which Belkis hybridized the religious symbols in her works, or the way in which, little by little, the silhouettes of her characters started to homogenize with nearly imperceptible differences between the sexes and absolutely none of race show us that the artist wanted the audience to approach her work from our various circumstances; that we should help her dilute the myth, to open the way to interpretations that would include us as protagonists in all our diversity. That is when Sikán or Belkis cease to be women or men, Black or White, initiates or simple mortals, victims of our circumstances: Belkis was all of us.”

Belkis Ayón’s Disobedience (1998) depicts a ceremonial ritual being performed by the enigmatic fraternal order of the Abakuá. This secret society and its myths and practices were one of the artist’s main sources of inspiration throughout her brief but prolific career. Her interest in their culture was in itself defiant, as a foundational principle of the Abakuá is a prohibition on participation of any kind by women.

In the bottom portion of Disobedience, below the practitioners, are three female figures observing the ritual. On the left, a woman is transfixed on the ceremony. On the right, a woman with catholic imagery on her forehead is in a panic. In the center, unimpressed and knowing, is the bone-white figure of Princess Sikán, the central martyr of the Abakuá belief system and a frequent proxy for Belkis Ayón herself. The presence of women is the ultimate act of disobedience, a breaking of the most cardinal rule of the Abakuá.