The Surreal Images of Eric and Elliot Jiménez

In 1954, the Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera published “El Monte,” committing to paper the oral history of major Afro-Cuban religious traditions.

- Ana Karina Zatarain

The book's title, which translates roughly to “The Wilderness,” refers not only to nature but to the sacred space where, for those who practice Palo Monte and Lucumí—better known as Santería—spirits and deities reside. Among its readers was the Cuban collagrapher Belkis Ayón, who drew from Cabrera’s research to create the characters that populate her strange œuvre: monochrome silhouettes, their only facial features a pair of stark, piercing eyes.