In 1973, while an MFA candidate at the university of Iowa, Ana Mendieta traveled to Mexico to research Pre-Columbian religion. During this period Medieta began work on the Silueta series which drew influence from religious ritual and earth art. Using elemental materials—earth, fire, water—Mendieta inscribed her body on the landscape and photographed the resulting trace.
Portrait of Ana Mendieta. © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.