9.14.2016

one love by karin sanborn

Research is a fascinating undertaking. I never expected an academic pursuit to have the  impact of a physical event, but it has. Something part of me is changing shape, growing, getting more elastic. For the last 9 months one name from the annals of recent contemporary art history refused to leave me alone. Peers & teachers alike continually made suggestions to dig deeper into this one artist. Her name was Ana Mendieta.

In the beginning, I had preconceived notions about the artist along with a sense of complete alienation when looking at the work. With a ready surplus of elaborate justifications a mental barricade went up against the need to look further into this legacy. What a joke. Studying teaches me one thing if nothing else; learning is no fun without an open mind. Ana Mendieta's shadow has been holding a silent vigil on the exterior of my locked house, waiting for the occupant to exit. Just today I decided to go outside and  make peace with this stalker.

One doesn't have to personally admire or be like someone else to share in a common root. To court the earth in a direct relationship to the body as a sculptural medium is both awesome and humbling. Behold the macro and the micro together here.There is empowerment in an unspoken feminine commonality where the two components meet. With that understood, the imagination is free to roam the universe unimpeded by polar judgments. This takes me to the same place where the Hubble spacecraft is out exploring unknown images that may one day provide more inside into what our existence is all about. Until then, it is a spectacular ride. Thank you Ana Mendieta for hanging around so I could hear this thought of my own reflected back through your eyes.

Mendieta stated:
My art is grounded in the belief of one universal energy that runs through everything: from insect to man, from man to spectre, from spectre to plant, from plant to galaxy.
My works are irrigation veins of this universal fluid. Through them ascend the ancestral sap, the original beliefs, the primordial accumulations, the unconscious thoughts that animate the world. [1]

The timing of this post coincides with an outdoor activity facilitated by me during the MMAS 2016 Arts & Music Festival. Click on the mud tree for this earth art event information.


[1] Mendieta, Ana. ‘A Selection of Statements and Notes’, Sulfur, vol. 22, 1988, 70

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