Ana Mendieta
Ana Mendieta was a Cuban American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who is best known for her earthbody artwork. Born in Havana, Mendieta arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1961, two years after Marxist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
Mendieta was born in Havana, Cuba to a family prominent in the countrys politics and society. At age 12, in order to escape Fidel Castros regime, Ana and her 14yearold sister Raquelin were sent to the United States by their parents to live in Iowa as part of a government sponsored program that removed and relocated children from Castros Cuba. Through Operation Peter Pan, a collaborative program run by the US government and the Catholic Charities, Mendieta and her sister spent their first weeks in refugee camps before moving to several institutions and foster homes in Iowa. In 1966, Mendieta was reunited with her mother and younger brother her father joined them in 1979, having spentyears in a political prison in Cuba for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Source: Wikipedia