Ana Mendieta, performer, sculptor and artist, was one of the first women of her time to create images that dealt with the connection between the female body and nature. This connection came from her inner need for a sense of belonging, a factor very fundamental to the creation of her works. In this theoretical research, her series of works entitled "Silueta Series" and their connection to the Afro-Cuban Yoruba religion and the Santeria pantheon are examined. The rituals of this religion and Mendieta's study of them served as a guide for her work. Finally, the ideas and symbols presented in Mendieta's works are linked to the book "The Dance of the Great Mothers" by the author and psychoanalyst, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, which emphasizes the importance of the Great Mother, and to the paintings and traumatic experiences of Frida Kahlo, which show many similarities with those of Ana Mendieta.
Maria Sygouridou was born in 2001 in Thessaloniki and grew up in Kilkis. From a young age she was involved in many forms of art. Her main activities were music, dance, theatre and painting. She has a degree in Theory of Music from the Music Conservatory of Kilkis and continues to this day her studies in classical flute. Since 2019 she is studying at the Ionian University, at the Department of Audio and Visual Arts and is further involved in photography, documentary and theoretical research in the context of art history courses. She is a member of the student theatre group "Avarts Theater" and the student performance group "Monostigmis". At the same time she works as a radio producer from 2021 until today.
