Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta (1948- 1985) was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who was born in Havana and immigrated to the United States in 1961 as a child. She worked through the early 1970s to mid-1980s traveling to Cuba, Mexico, and Italy, but her primary residence was NYC. Her practice focused on themes of culture, identity, feminism, transformation and the universal. Best known for her earth/body works the Silueta Series where she created silhouettes and body prints in nature (mud, sand, grass) while working with natural materials and the elements. Mendieta’s artwork was deeply tied to nature and shared humanity.

Workshop

Let’s connect with nature and create art works inspired by Ana Mendieta’s Silueta Series!

1. Go outside and find a special place in nature to lie down.

2. Feel the earth below you.

3. Think about your body in connection with the natural world.

4. Look around you and gather surrounding natural materials like dirt, mud, sand, grass,leaves, twigs, etc.

5. With your pencil & paper draw a simple outline or silhouette of your body. Consider the shape of your body, arms and legs while capturing your experience lying on the earth.

6. Use the natural materials you gathered to recreate that special place on the paper.

7. Share & keep your connection with nature by finding a space indoors for your artwork to exist.

Materials

• Found natural materials
• Paper
• Pencil
• Glue

Follow Up

Where did you choose to go outside?
Why did you choose that particular space?
What did you think about when you were lying down?
Did you feel connected with the earth below you?
What was that feeling like?
Could you feel a connection with your body and the ground? What does nature or the natural world mean to you?
What natural materials did you find outside to use in your artwork? Did you like recreating your experience on paper?
Was that experience outside art? Why?
Who did you share your finished artwork with?
Is there a special place inside for your artwork? Where?

“Through my earth/body sculptures I become one with the earth I become an extension of nature and nature becomes an extension of my body.”

- Ana Mendieta