I become an extension of nature and nature becomes an extension of my body. She felt that by uniting her body with the earth she could become whole again: 'Through my earth/body sculptures, I become one with the earth.

Mendieta often focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the Earth. Her works are generally associated with the four basic elements of nature. Her work was somewhat autobiographical, drawing from her history of being displaced from her native Cuba, and focused on themes including feminism, violence, life, death, identity, place and belonging. In the course of her career, Mendieta created work in Cuba, Mexico, Italy, and the United States. After graduate school, she moved to New York City. She said that she faced a great deal of discrimination in art school. Her interest in spiritualism, religion, and primitive rituals developed during this time. In college, Mendieta's work focused on blood and violence toward women. She earned a BA (enrolled 1969–1972) and MA in painting, and an MFA (enrolled 1972–1977) in Intermedia under the instruction of acclaimed artist Hans Breder. Mendieta was first a French major and art minor, but when she transferred to the University of Iowa, she was inspired by the avant-garde community and the hills of Iowa's landscape. In junior high school, she discovered a love for art. When Mendieta studied English in school, her vocabulary was very limited. When she and her sister were sent to Iowa, they were enrolled in a reform school because the court wanted to avoid sending them to a state institution. She attended an all-girls Catholic private school. In Cuba, Mendieta grew up as a sheltered, upper-class child. Her father joined them in 1979, having spent 18 years in a political prison in Cuba for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion. In 1966, Mendieta was reunited with her mother and younger brother. The two sisters spent their first weeks in refugee camps, and then moved between several institutions and foster homes throughout Iowa. The sisters were able to stay together during this time due to a power of attorney signed by their parents, which mandated that they not be separated.

Mendieta's first two years in the United States consisted of constant alternation between foster homes and orphanages. Ana and Raquelin were among 14,000 children who migrated to the United States through this program in 1961. Ana, aged 12, and her 15-year-old sister Raquelin were sent to the United States by their parents to live in Dubuque, Iowa through Operation Peter Pan, a collaborative program, run by the US government and the Catholic Charities, for Cuban children to flee Fidel Castro's dictatorship. Her mother, Raquel Oti de Rojas, was a chemist, a researcher, and the granddaughter of Carlos Maria de Rojas, a sugar mill owner celebrated for his role in the war against Spain for Cuban independence. Her father, Ignacio Alberto Mendieta de Lizáur, was an attorney and the nephew of Carlos Mendieta, who was installed as president by Fulgencio Batista for just under two years. Mendieta was born on November 18, 1948, in Havana, Cuba, to a wealthy family prominent in the country's politics and society. 3.7 Film works released posthumously (1985–present).3.4 Photo etchings of the Rupestrian Sculptures (1981).3.2 Membership in Artists In Residence Inc.3.1 Rape Scene (1973 Moffit Street, Iowa City, Iowa).

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