In 2006 I joined a long term collaboration we called Secrets Under the Skin, a project which connected a team of American and Cuban artists and scholars with traditional spiritual practitioners in Cuba and the Volta region of Ghana/Togo. We developed a multi-media installation featuring video, painting, performance and photography, which we exhibited at the Ludwig Foundation in Havana, Museo Constantino Barredo Guerra in Perico, The University of Accra, Ghana, The Kimura Gallery at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, The Bunnell Street Gallery in Homer, Alaska, Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, and The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco. In 2021 the University of Forida Press published a book called Situated Narratives and Sacred Dance by Jill Flanders Crosby and JMT Torres, to which we all contributed.

I contributed eight large acrylic paintings on canvas and 20 illuminated manuscripts on paper. These works contain images, portraits and narratives from Perico, Cuba and Dzodze, Ghana. Ultimately, I plan to gift high quality prints of my manuscripts and paintings to the Museo Barredo Guerra in Perico. Throughout the process we have gifted prints, videos, and photographs to the people of Dzodze and Perico.

A complete discussion of the project, reproductions of the paintings and manuscripts, videos, and photographs can be found on a website produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. here

The entire series of illuminated manuscripts has been acquired by the Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries.

Hilda la Obbini Omo Eleggua 2008, Acrylic on Canvas, 68” X 48” Hilda Zulueta adopted our team of artists, saying she wanted us to tell the world about Perico and its Arará traditions. This painting is life size, and commemorates the day she

Cabildo de Ma Gose 2013, Acrylic on Canvas, 67” X 54” This is an image of a cabildo in an isolated town called Agramonte, in Matanzas province, Cuba. It has been continually in use as a ceremonial center since it was established by enslaved

The Story of Oddu Aremu 2010, Acrylic on Canvas, 67” X 54” Oddu Aremu is an Arará deity syncretized with the Lukumi deity Obatalá. The story in Perico goes that Oddu wanted to swim back to Africa. His entry point was Laguna Ramona, a small sp

Justo's Chair 2010, Acrylic on Canvas, 67” X 54” This chair belonged to “Difunto Justo Zulueta”, and still can be seen in a shrine kept by his son, Reinaldo Robinson. (Robinson is now deceased) Legend has it that Justo fathered 44 children by

Altar for Roberto 2016, Acrylic on Canvas, 36.5” X 26.5” Roberto Pedroso García was born Colón, a town near Perico, where our artists’ research project called Secrets Under the Skin was based. Roberto was one of our important Cuban collabor

Dashi's Togbui Shrine 2014, Acrylic on Canvas, 72” X 54” This is Dashi, a powerful priestess in Dzodze, Ghana. She is pictured in her sacred hut with the deity Togbui, taking the form of the painted mound. Dashi invited us for a blessing ins

Photo by SM, 2013, Accrá, Ghana This is Dashi, high priestess of the traditional village of Dzodze, Ghana, standing in front of her portrait at our installation at the Nubuke Foundation in Accrá, Ghana. Dashi and many of the spiritual practiti

Robinson’s Evidence 2013, Acrylic on Canvas, 67” X 54” Reynaldo Robinson was the keeper of a shrine for his father, who is still known as Difunto Justo Zulueta, (Justo Zulueta RIP), in Perico. Robinson lived in the two room shrine. The othe

Afeli, Guardian of the House, Adjodogou, Togo 2015, Acrylic on Canvas, 72” X 53”, This image haunted me until I finally painted it, two years after I was actually in the village. I was impressed by the orderly atmosphere, where everyone seem

All Shall Pass 2014, Acrylic with Metal Leaf on Canvas, 72” X 54” This image depicts a ritual we were invited to attend in a village outside Accra, Ghana. Everyone was required to wear ”cloth”, or, to wrap themselves in traditional cloth. The

The Cockroach Manuscript 2010, Sumi ink and Watercolor on Paper, 22’ X 17” Hilda Zulueta tells the story of how enslaved Africans brought their deities to Cuba. She talks about a lagoon that was transformed into a sacred dwelling place for O

Casa de Prieto 2010, Watercolor and Sumi Ink on Rag Paper, 22” X 17” Prieto Angarica presides over Sociedad Africana in Perico. In this manuscript Prieto and other people present at the interview describe how their lives depend on the contin

Ofrenda Para Hilda 2010, Watercolor, Sumi Ink, and metal leaf on Paper, 22” X 17” This started out as a story told by Hilda Zulueta about her reluctance to fall into trance during ceremonies. In this case the artwork took another path and became

Ma Forentina’s Dress 2010, Watercolor, Ink and metal leaf on Paper, 22” X 17” This manuscript contains fragments of a story told by Hilda Zulueta about how her memories of Arará are fading due to age. The actual dress can be seen in Museo Ba

Ceiba and Baobab 2010, Watercolor and Sumi Ink on Rag Paper, 22” X 17” Reinaldo Robinson tells a story in 2006 about how enslaved Africans kept as close as possible to their traditions, but they made substitutions, using plants and trees avai

Catalina Frekete 2010, Watercolor and Sumi Ink on Paper, 22” X 17” This is a story about Catalina Frekete, told by her great grand daughter. Catalina Frekete was an enslaved African woman who lived in Perico. She was very tall and strong a

Day of the Dead Installations

Cuban Music and Dance