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In episode\xa067 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the filmmaker Raquel Cecilia Mendieta on her aunt, one of the greatest artists\xa0ever to live: Ana Mendieta.\xa0\n\nThe day of this episode's\xa0release: 8 September 2021, is\xa0the 36th anniversary of Ana's death, who died aged 36 in 1985.\xa0\n\n[This episode is brought to you by Alighieri jewellery: www.alighieri.co.uk | use the code TGWA at checkout for 10% off!]\n\n"I use the earth as a canvas and my soul as an instrument." \n\nA pioneer of Performance Art who used the body as her primary tool, Mendieta\u2019s career was radically experimental. Born in pre-revolutionHavana, Cuba, Mendieta\u2019s life changed when Castro came to power, and her father(an enemy of the new regime) was imprisoned. Exiled from Cuba and sent toAmerica \u2013 arriving in Florida then settling in Iowa, aged 12 \u2013 Mendieta remained separated from her parents and birth country for years.\n\nEnrolling in the University of Iowa, it was here where she thrived. First experimenting with painting, Mendieta went on to employ the body as her primary medium. Constructing her 'Facial Cosmetic Variations' and 'Facial Hair Transplants', she pioneered the use of props and prosthetics as 'acts of transformations'. But being "possessed\xa0by nature",\xa0 by 1973, she was exploring her siluetas.\xa0\n\nInterrogating themes of memory, history, displacement, and rebirth, Mendieta used her body as her instrument\xa0when conducting more than 200 performative and ephemeral \u2018sculptures\u2019 (which she called\xa0siluetas). Through methods of burning, carving, or planting, Mendieta sought to\xa0\u2018become one with the earth\u2019,\xa0moulding the outlines of her body onto the soil of Iowa, Mexico, and from 1980, Cuba.\xa0\n\nIn this episode we discuss the pure POWER of Mendieta's work, her connection to the Earth, life in Iowa and NYC and her later career at the American Academy in Rome. Ana was a true pioneer. And speaking to the fantastic Raquel, who has made many beautiful films on her aunt, we get an insight into who she was, her rebellious spirit, love and care for those around her, and pure excitement for her life and work.\xa0\n\nEnjoy!!!\n\nFurther links:\xa0\nhttps://www.galerielelong.com/artists/estate-of-ana-mendieta\nhttps://jeudepaume.org/en/evenement/ana-mendieta-2/\nhttps://alisonjacques.com/artists/ana-mendieta\n\nLISTEN NOW\xa0+ ENJOY!!!\nFollow us:\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by\xa0Nada Smiljanic\nResearch assistant: Viva Ruggi\xa0\nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/