*Final Project*

Ana Mendieta's “Silueta Series” was the inspiration for my final project. Ana created her silhouettes to show awareness of the female body. Some of the pieces were performative and she showed her own body merging with the earth. Some of the other pieces presented an hour glass silhouette of a woman. Not all woman have that shape, especially those that suffer from cancer. Women who have have lost their breast and  hair may feel as if they lost a piece of their femininity. These woman are still amazing and they possess a radiant external beauty.

The first silhouette is of a woman who has lost her breast to cancer. At the top of the silhouette is my grandmother's scarf. She passed away from uterine cancer in 2004. I also have another grandmother who is a two time breast cancer survivor. I suspended this silhouette from fishing line wrapped around trees. The fabric is woven between the lines. 

 This second silhouette is a woman who has her breast but does not have the classic hour glass figure. This silhouette represents a woman who may have lost her uterus. Uterine cancer is an agressive cancer. Only 10% of women diagnosed with this cancer survive. My grandmother lived a year following her diagnosis.

This last silhouette is a combination of the two silhouettes. It is more of a classic hour glass shape silhouette. It is wavy around the edges to represent the potential change in a women's body. I decided to lay this one on the ground to symbolize the sacrifice that women with cancer women make to save their lives. 

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