Wednesday, October 21, 2015



Isa Oliva Artist Response 2015




Ana Mendieta was a Cuban American performance artist/sculptor/video artist.



she was living in the united states after she arrived as a refugee. Her work was prominent in the 70's and early 80's. Ana's work for the most part was autobiographical an revolved around the themes of feminism violence life death place and belonging.Ana's earth body sculpture's (Silueta series) Ana created female silhouettes with her naked body using the earth as her media and also using other natural materials such as sand,blood,grass. Mendieta used her work to reestablish her bonds with her maternal source which is cuba, she was torn from her homeland at a very young age this overwhelmed her and i believe left her wounded for many years. In her silueta series which in my opinion is her most beautiful and impactful work she has done, the simple act of her imprinting her body onto the earth helped her heal or reconnect with the earth, her womb which she was stripped from. Ana Mendieta's is one of the few artists that i feel i can seriously relate to. In a way i was stripped of my home but in the sense of feeling at home. which i believe is something Ana struggled with and pursued to heal or find through her work.

                                                                                                                                



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            Ana Mendieta was a Cuban American performace artist/sculptor/video artist. She was living in the united states as a refugee after her and her younger sister fled cuba.Her work was prominent in the 70's and early 80's. Ana's work for the most part was autobiographical and revolved around the themes of feminism violence life death place and belonging. Ana's earth body sculpture's (silueta series) Ana created female silhouettes with her naked body using the earth as her media and also using other materials such as sand,blood,grass. Mendieta was trying to reestablish her bonds with her maternal source which is Cuba, she was torn from her homeland at a very young age. I believe this experience left her wounded for many years and is was made her explore themes of place and belonging. In her silueta series which in my opinion is her most beautiful and impactful work that she has done, the simple act of her imprinting her body onto the earth helped her heal and reconnect with the earth her womb which she was stripped from. Ana's work as a whole, I don’t think she was just talking about one thing but everything she was interested in tied in one way or another, I Admire Ana's honesty, she made people have to confront her work and not be able to get away from it she talked about things that people were in denial about or just refused to speak about cause the topics were to gruesome. Ana Mendieta is one of the only artist's I feel I can seriously relate to.