In Ana Mendieta’s work, ancient pre-Columbian rituals and ancestral Afro-Cuban traditions fostered research that was able to apply new directions to the nascent feminist debate as well as to experimentation carried out beyond the confines of the studio, through the expressive possibilities offered by performance and film.
Born in Havana, in the early 1960s, while her father was imprisoned for his opposition to the political regime, the young Ana had to emigrate with her sister Raquelin to the United States. There she pursued her education as an artist. After completing her initial studies and majoring in painting at the University of Iowa, she continued her education there, receiving a Master’s degree in a new “Intermedia Program.” [...] 
