Ana Mendieta (American, 1948-1985)

Ana Mendieta was a Cuban-born artist who gained fame for body-centered earth art that focused on her own body and on gender issues. Her work formed an intimate, ritualistic bond with the earth, often documenting the silhouettes and impressions of her absent body in patches of soil or tall grass. Mendieta used the camera to record and frame her earth sculpture and to produce installations of her photographic work, as well as outdoor performance pieces. She was known for photographing the contours of her body as concentric ridges of molded soil, or traced in candles and votive offerings, suggesting an association with female earth deities.
- Patricia Schaefer

Selected Bibliography
Chattopadhyay, Collette. "Ana Mendieta's Sphere of Influence," Washington, DC: Sculpture (June 1999): 34-41.

Clearwater, Bonnie, ed. Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works. Grassfield Press, 1993.

Mullelr, D. "AIR Reclaims Mendieta: Ana Mendieta and the Early Years of the Feminist Art Movement." Art in America (Oct 1999): 49.

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