Body, site and material as metaphoric determinants in the representation of identity in Ana Mendieta's "Siluetta" series

Abstract

In an interview with writer Jane Blocker (Blocker 1999: 5) Ana Mendieta had been quoted describing her art as follows: 'Through my art, I want to express the immediacy of life and the eternity of nature. It overflows my sensation of having been separated from the maternal stomach (nature). My art is the form of re-establishing the bonds that unite me with the universe. It is a retum to the maternal fountain. By means of my earth/body sculptures, I am united completely to the earth ... I am converted into an extension of nature and nature is converted into an extension of my body. This obsessive act of reaffirming my bonds with the earth is really the reactivation of primitive beliefs ... (in) a feminine omnipresent force, the image that remains after having been enclosed by the maternal stomach, it is a manifestation of my thirst of being." Ana Mendieta was bom in nineteen forty eight in Havana Cuba during the rise of Fidel Castro's regime, which later led to the exile of her and her sisters to the United States of America. Mendieta obtained her Masters Degree in Fine Art from the University of Iowa. During her studies, performance artworks and site-specific installations featured predominantly. Ana Mendieta's ear1y sculptural and performance works were significant, due to the profound impact they had on the representation of women in art, during the seventies. Mendieta· s works mostly focused on the oppression of women and the exploration of her relationship with the immediate environment. The search for identity was thematically pursued in a way that transformed her works into autobiographical representations using her own body as a medium. She achieved this by the varying ways in which the "body" was manipulated in select site-specifiC works. The varying manipulation of body constantly referred to the themes of culture and identity loss. This loss in Mendieta's work is represented through the exploration of transformative issues such as life, death and rebirth. Blocker identified that a unique synthesis arose in the manner in which Mendieta presents and positions the body in the environment in relation to typical esoteric symbols found in primitive Cuban rituals (cf. Blocker 1999: 5). This researchjh~refo~ proposes to investigate the way in which Ana Mendieta's selection of site, together with the manipulation of body and material, assist in creating visual metaphors that explore her culture and identity as an exiled Cuban woman. Throughout Mendieta's work concepts of culture and gender displacement are referenced to by images extracted from her immediate surroundings, allowing the viewer to visually access the loss of identity. Body as a metaphoric determinant is discussed in chapter three to investigate ways in which Mendieta manipulates "body" to represent identity. The disappearance of body is explored through Mendieta's manipulation of; the physical body or the building up or embedding of formed silhouettes that represent "body''. Time and the erosive effects of nature's elements on embedded or formed silhouettes are used to depict the disappearance of the body in an attempt to explore "loss" as a concept. Art critic and lecturer Collette Chattopadhyay wrote that Ana Mendieta's work has been interpreted as being both conceptually strong as well as fragile in form. She also suggests that Mendieta's site-specific sculptures, installations, and performative works appropriately mingle concepts of timeliness with timelessness, emphasizing tensions of hope and despair, which become critical elements in discussing Mendieta's work (cf. Chattopadhyay 1999: 35). The weathering of site-specific works by the elements: wind, fire and water illustrate the effects of the above-mentioned timeliness and timelessness as metaphors for issues surrounding life, death and rebirth. Mendieta, like the land artist Robert Smithson, studied the art-object relationship to mass media and its dissemination. To enable Mendieta's art to be exposed to a larger audience she too relied on the photographic documentation as final product The documentation of her site-specific works becomes as much an integral part of the creative process, as the manipulation of site, material and the rendering of form. The further compositional manipulation of visual elements such as surface organization, size, light and colour allow the photographs to become extensions of the initial site-works. The manipulation of the visual elements within the image and how they interrelate denote associative connotations, which aid metaphors. An example of this type of association can be seen with Mendieta's recurring use of the colour red and its association with blood or passion, to represent life, death and rebirth (see fiQ. 1.5 and 1.6). The analysis of site and materials as metaphoric determinants in chapter four will further explore ways in which Mendieta manipulated the visual elements within her site-works. Various theoretical perspectives on the formation of visual metaphors are briefly outlined to understand how metaphors are formed, thereby establishing a basis by which Mendieta's site-specific works with regard to body and material can be analyzed. Author and theorist George Lakoff's writings on metaphors explain that the primary importance of metaphor lies in associations. He also states that these associations are a conventional way of conceptualizing our immediate surroundings (cf. Lakoff 1992: 1 ). This statement is reflected in Mendieta's works, as the content of her work refers specifically to the visual conceptualization of personal experiences. The metaphors created in her works reflect on her cultural and sexual understanding of her immediate surroundings. Author Charles Merewether claims that Mendieta's 'Siluetta' series produced during the nineteen seventies simultaneously deals with issues of difference, identity, culture and prejudice. With this, Mendieta's Cuban past is reflected through the representation of Afro-Cuban rituals, spirituality, mysticism and Latin American history. Exploring aspects of these themes resulted in an ongoing exploration of 'self, which fulfilled the inner desire to re-connect with the lost links of her Cuban origin (cf. Merewether 1999: 1-5). Mendieta's best-known works, that include the visual interplay of site, body and material, are reflected in the 'Silueta' series produced from 1973-1977. Works from 'this series will be analyzed to illustrate the proposed exploration of identity.