Art and religion have been thoroughly connected in the Western world, dating back to when Medieval and Renaissance artists such as Giotto, Michelangelo and Raphael were painting for the Catholic Church. Before Western art however, came the Buddhist stupas of Tibet, Mayan pyramids and African tribal fertility figures.
It wasn’t until the nationalisation of Christianity that artists moved away from religious imagery and the merging of cultures drew influences of other spiritual elements and ideals into the art making process. The birth of Modernism in the late 19th Century brought out the avant-garde movements that abandoned old habits and traditions, going for the idea of creating a vision of art as a sacred practice unto itself.
ANA MENDIETA
Ana Mendieta (18 November 1948 – 8 September 1985) was a Cuban-American artist famous for her performance art, "earth-body" sculptures, and photographic and video work. Mendieta worked in nature, exploring the relationship between her body, the earth and art. Her works are generally ephemeral and so they became primarily known through photographic documentation.
With her sculptures Mendieta returned tot he very elements that produced her. She called the earth her canvas and her soul her tools. "I have thrown myself intot he very elements that produced me". She uses her body to explore the boundaries between the worlds of matter and spirit, influenced by ritualistic performance art of Bruce Nauman, Carolee Schneemann and Vito Acconci.
“My exploration through my art of the relationship between myself and nature has been a clear result of my having been torn from my homeland during my adolescence. The making of my silueta in nature keeps the transition between my homeland and my new home. It is a way of reclaiming my roots and becoming one with nature. Although the culture in which I live is part of me, my roots and cultural identity are a result of my Cuban heritage.”
—Ana Mendieta
“Art must have begun as nature itself, in a dialectical relationship between humans and the natural world from which we cannot be separated.”
—Ana Mendieta
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1 comment:
Ana Mendieta's lovely, nice choice of artist Sim...
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