Ana Mendieta was born on November 18, 1948 in Havana, Cuba and fell to her death from her 34th floor apartment window on September 8, 1985 in New York. As a young cuban artist, her work focused on forms of gender, culture and tended to be autobiographical. Mendieta was not afraid to do what was needed to in order make her art. She used landscape and the female form through out her work, this mainly resulted out of her being removed from her homeland and her search to reestablish a sort of connection with the world around her. Best known for her earth-body sculptures, early performance pieces and permanent sculptures. Through out her works she uses nature as a canvas and a medium, some of her pieces feature influences from santeria.
