I was confronted with a photograph of a naked Mendieta lying on her front covered with grass and moss; the odd flower placed candidly on her back. Mendieta spiritually cleanses herself at natures altar with mud, twigs and leaves, connecting herself to nature by becoming a part of it. In doing so, she becomes almost invisible to the eye. Sean O’Hagan, writing in the Guardian in 2013, quotes a statement made by the artist in the early 1980s in which she writes that her art “is grounded on the belief in one universal energy which runs through everything… from insect to man, from man to spectre, from spectre to plant, from plant to galaxy.”

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In Hojas Rojas Silueta (Quemada alrededor), 1977, the image of Mendieta’s silhouette is given a sentient presence through the fire that rages around it, symbolic of ritual fires, of warmth and comfort. The presence of the silhouette itself is one which bolsters her union within her surroundings. Be it in snow, sand or gunpowder, Mendieta’s female presence is embossed onto the surface. The female body is under continual scrutiny, both in art and in life. The breasts and vagina are sexualised. Internal processes, such as menstruation, are deemed abject. This dichotomy between lust and repugnance is ignored in Mendieta’s drawn silhouette. Her work can be described as presenting themes universal to all bodies irrespective of gender. She allows the silhouette to be destroyed by nature itself, alluding to the decay of corporeal bodies. Nature is given control over these silhouettes; for example, if drawn in sand, Mendieta allows the waves to wash it away.

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In Untitled (Glass on Body Imprints), 1972, a suite of six colour photographs, Mendieta creates surreal, biomorphic forms by pressing and spreading parts of her body such as her face, stomach and breasts on glass.