An Artist Bridging Cultures, Mythologies, and Visual Languages
Ray A. Tenorio is a Cuban-born, Miami-based visual artist whose work explores mythology as a living language capable of connecting cultures, histories, and contemporary identities.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Tenorio studied Social Communication at the Universidad de La Habana before relocating to the United States. He later pursued Graphic and Commercial Arts at Miami Dade College and continued his artistic development in Berlin, Germany. These experiences across different cultural environments have deeply influenced a practice centered on connection, transformation, and the shared human imagination.
Working primarily with polychromatic oil pencils on wood and mixed media, Tenorio creates intricate visual narratives where drawing, storytelling, and symbolic cartography converge. Influenced by Surrealism, Expressionism, Afro-Caribbean traditions, and ancient mythologies, his work brings Yoruba cosmology, non-Western folklore, and universal archetypes into dialogue.
Rather than simply illustrating traditional myths, Tenorio reimagines them through a contemporary lens. His work investigates the unexpected parallels between distant civilizations—cultures separated by geography and history that nevertheless developed related archetypes, symbols, deities, and narratives in response to shared human experiences.
Layered symbolism, organic forms, multiple perspectives, and vibrant fields of color characterize his visual language. Figures emerge, overlap, and transform within his compositions, encouraging viewers to look beyond a single interpretation and discover new relationships with each encounter.
For Tenorio, mythology is not confined to the past. It remains a dynamic way of exploring identity, memory, spirituality, belonging, and the connections that unite human experience across cultures.
Press
Curriculum Vitae
Visual Artist | Miami, Florida
Education
- Miami Dade College — Associate in Arts, Graphic & Commercial Arts
- Akademie für Illustration und Design (Berlin, Germany) — Illustration Design
- Universidad de La Habana — Social Communication
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 2025 — Celestial Hybrids: Yoruba & Nordic Mythologies, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach
- 2024 — Memories of Mythical Love, Gallery at Yoga Garage School
- 2024 — Mi Afro Eres Tú, IPC ArtSpace, Miami
- 2022–2023 — Mythological Beings, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach
- 2021–2022 — Dreamscapes, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach
Artist Talks & Collections
Artist Talk, The Betsy Hotel (2025). Works held in private collections throughout the United States and Europe, including acquisitions by a private museum collection in the Netherlands.
Artistic Practice
Monumental Drawing • Mixed Media • Epoxy Resin • Glass Beadwork • Site-Specific Installation • Public Art • Wood Panel • Marine Materials • Found Objects
Skills
Large-scale fabrication • Installation planning • Mixed-media construction • Epoxy resin casting • Adobe Creative Suite • Creative Direction • Public Speaking