Gelatin silver print, from a portfolio of five photos documenting sand works in Miami and Cape Cod, number five from an edition of twelve; with rubber stamps of the artist's signature and administratix of her estate on verso, along with a gallery label, 8 x 10 in.
Sculptor, feminist and performance artist Mendieta was born in Cuba but forced to live abroad. Sandwomen is part of her land art/body art project, Silueta Series, that was her focus between 1973 and 1985. "I have been carrying out a dialogue between the landscape and the female body (based on my own silhouette). I believe this has been a direct result of my having been torn from my homeland (Cuba) during my adolescence. I am overwhelmed by the feeling of having been cast from the womb (nature). My art is the way I re-establish the bonds that unite me to the universe. It is a return to the maternal source." (Quoted from Manchester, Elizabeth (October 2009). "Untitled (Silueta Series, Mexico)". tate.org.uk.)
