Untitled (Fetish Series, Iowa) 1977

Editor: Ana Mendieta’s “Untitled (Fetish Series, Iowa)” from 1977… it's a photograph of a shallow depression filled with muddy water and some sort of figure made of earth and sticks. It has this really primal, earthy quality. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The figure almost looks like a ritualistic effigy sinking back into the earth. The murky water evokes themes of cleansing, transformation, and the cyclical nature of life and death. Think about the symbols here: Earth, a primal mother, a source. Water, the origin of life and purifier. Sticks, suggesting structure, but here, a decaying structure. Mendieta's work is deeply informed by Santería. Does the placement of the figure—half-submerged—suggest anything to you? Editor: Well, it makes me think of burial, or perhaps something being reborn, rising from the depths. And Santería is the worship of spirits, so maybe the sculpture is of a spiritual body. Curator: Exactly! And Mendieta, displaced from Cuba as a child, frequently explores themes of identity, belonging, and the search for a connection to the land through these universal symbols. How do the materials contribute to these themes? Editor: The impermanence of the materials – mud, sticks, water – it all suggests fragility and the transient nature of existence. It will all wash away into nothing again, but for this captured moment in time. It has this melancholic quality. Curator: Precisely. Mendieta masterfully employs these ephemeral materials and practices to create profound statements about cultural memory and spiritual continuity, about returning home through representation. The land remembers, if we give it voice. What's your final impression? Editor: I appreciate how the simplicity of the materials amplifies the complex themes she explores, especially about memory, culture, and finding yourself by going back to where it all started.