After the Revolution of 1959 cuba's new government was being controlled by Fidel Castro and just before the cuban revolution a young child was rescued from it all. Ana Mendieta was born in Havana Cuba in November 18, 1948 and left her native country by 1961 through an operation called Operation Peter Pan. Receiving her BA in Painting at University of Iowa she also acquired her MFA in Intermedia. Her works focuses on a variety of ideas ranging from gender, feminism, spiritual transformation, death, life and rebirth.
Spiritual transformation is what I'd like to sum it up to. Mendieta was just any traditional artist using paint on canvas in literal terms but she used her body as the frame to her canvas. The earth as her canvas and her materials such as gunpowder, flowers, stones, trees, leaves, sand, mud etc. The significance in the subject matter she used was art and life. In my opinion Ana Mendieta used art as her tranquility. Taking several hours to accomplish one of her works takes patiences, silence and dedication to create such imprints on the world. As if she were once a dinosaur leaving her fossils as reminders that I was once here.
But in the views of the world Ana Mendieta's artworks signifies the denial of the typical nude and views of male stereotype. While reconnecting with her roots of mother earth she also "envisioned the female body as a primal source of life and sexuality, as a symbol of the ancient paleolithic goddess." With materials Ana Mendieta used everything that came from the earth symbolizing in naturalistic purity. Items like flowers symbolized her home Cuba; gunpowder represented in a historical state of how possible cave man drawings then the fire tused to show the beginning of light.
Ana Mendieta's work influence me because of the fact that I see this and her as very spiritual. When I went to Jamaica I felt like one with the earth barely running water, electricity, eating food picked right off trees and tasting
Works Cited
http://library.thinkquest.org/
http://www.eai.org/artistBio.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/
http://www.angelfire.com/ia/
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/latinashistory/mendietaana1.html
I like how you compared her work to dinosaurs' leaving behind their fossils. Her work is often described as very ephemeral, but its connection to the Earth itself lends it a sense of transcendence even when it's gone.
ReplyDeleteOut of all artists I like how you presented yours in your post , especailly because you used a great comparison with dinosaurs leaving behind their fossil. Her work is amazing to me. Good Job!
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