Born on November 18, 1948, performance artist Ana Mendieta would soon be destined to change the worlds of 1970s performance art, early intermedia art, Latin American art, earth body-art, and feminist aesthetics (Dziedzic 1 of 8). Taken from an article by a SCAD MFA candidate who spoke very highly of Mendieta and her talent, Erin Dziedzic’s article titled “Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-85 One Universal Energy Runs Through Everything” expressed the thoughts and works of the late Mendieta well.
After arriving in America from her homeland Havana, Cuba, Mendieta received her BA from the University of Iowa and then went on to study under Hans Breder for ten years while earning a MFA in painting and a MFA in Breder’s intermedia program. While in Breder’s program, Mendieta created some of her most famous pieces including her “Siluetas”. She began these while she was in Mexico becoming close with pre-Columbian iconography and getting back in touch with her roots. These “Siluetas” are described as “richly developed, eerily symbolic works in which she cut, burnt, drew or otherwise shaped a human silhouette (usually her own) into an array of outdoor sites” (Jones 2 of 3). Kristen M. Jones, a writer for Frieze Magazine, wrote an article about Ana Mendieta’s show at the Whitney in December of 2004. The Hirshhorn described Mendieta’s “Siluetas” as her series that thoroughly studies ancient cultures and her great knowledge with themes of gender and identity (Viso 1). Not only was Mendieta well spoken and well informed on how to use themes and studies appropriately in her work, Jones’ Frieze article describes Mendieta as an artist who dedicated her whole life to her work and she considered each sculpture or performance as a means of private meditation.
The article by Erin Dziedzic discusses how Mendieta’s work explores gender and cultural identity while she made herself fit under the genre of “earth-body art.” The Hirshhorn article by Olga Viso explains that Mendieta’s genre is a “hybrid of two 1960s movements: earth art and body art” (1). Mendieta wrote that “there is nothing as beautiful and humanizing in a work of art than that which sharpens sensibilities and opens new worlds to man” (Dziedzic 1). One of her works that had an impact on me as an artist is her “Glass on Body Imprints” series of 1972. In this piece, she treats the body as a sculptural material and one that can be altered if need be. An interesting part to this piece for me was how each piece of plexiglass distorted her body in different ways depending on what body part she pressed it on.
Mendieta’s performance and sculpture aspects remind me a lot of my recent work and works that I am currently making. Her use of the body, hers in particular, is of most interest to me and her ability to manipulate her body differently each time really is incredible. I have always had an interest in gender and self-identity and would like to further that study and possibly use it in different ways that I have in the past.
Unfortunately, Mendieta had a tragic early death on September 8, 1985 when she apparently fell from her 34th floor apartment window in Greenwich Village. Currently the Galerie Lelong in New York City is keeping up her work.
Erin Dziedzic "Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-85 One Universal Energy Runs Through Everything"
Dziedzic's Article
Olga M. Viso "In Depth: Ana Mendieta" Hirshhorn Museum
Kristen M. Jones "Ana Mendieta: Whitney Museum of Art" Frieze Magazine Issue 87 November-December 2004
Jones' Article
Galerie Lelong Website
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