Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. She is considered one of the most influential Cuban-American artists of the post–World War II era. She is best known for the Silueta series (1973-1985), in which she made female silhouettes in mud, sand and grass. Born in Havana, Cuba, Mendieta left for the United States in 1961. She was sent at age 12 with her sister through Operations Pedro Pan and raised in Iowa foster homes and institutions. She was awarded the Roma Prize by the American Academy in Rome in 1983, and her work has been the subject of retrospectives including one at the Hirshhorn Museum in 2004. Mendieta died on September 8, 1985, in New York City, after falling from her 34th-floor apartment.

Wikipedia ↗