In 1994 I returned home to Panama to establish a studio in Portobelo, a 16th century Spanish colonial village on the Caribbean coast steeped in magic, myth, mystery, and miracles. This experience has given me an opportunity to observe anew the ways Panamanians tell their stories through art and ritual. In Portobelo, I became interested in telling the stories of the cimarrones--runaway slaves, and their descendants, the Congos. I have also become interested in the Cristo Negro de Portobelo--the Black Christ of Portobelo, a life-size wooden statue of a black Christ bearing a cross that mysteriously arrived in the village three centuries ago. Devotees of the Cristo Negro believe the statue possesses miraculous healing powers, and as many as 60,000 pilgrims annually visit Portobelo for his feast day. I return to Portobelo each year where I am now an integral part of Taller Portobelo, an artist cooperative dedicated to preserving local traditions, while developing new ones.

My residency in Portobelo has completely changed the direction of my life and the way I now make works of art. Prior to arriving in Portobelo, the images of the orishas featured prominently on the surface of the works. Over the years they have become more integrated into the internal fabric of the work, at times shedding the veneer of their images and emerging with greater force as the Muse who guides the creation of the work.

"Presente! The Dwelling of Orishas in My Art" is a slide lecture that examines the presence of orishas in my work over the last two decades.