The Dialogue Between the Female Body and Nature: Body, Nature, and Memory in Feminist Art
Chapter from the book:
Tanrıverdi,
Y.
(ed.)
2025.
Shaping the Invisible: The Journey of Concept in Art.
Synopsis
This article examines the relationship between the female body and nature through the lens of feminist art theory. Historically marginalized within the canon of modern art, women artists began to assert a powerful presence in the art world especially after the 1960s with the rise of feminist movements. Focusing on artists such as Ana Mendieta, Rebecca Horn, Suzanne Lacy, and Cecilia Vicuña, this study analyzes the interconnection between the female body and nature in relation to memory, ritual, identity, and political resistance. These artists reinterpret nature as a metaphor for repressed experiences and as an alternative space against patriarchal structures. Feminist artists employ performance art, ephemeral gestures, and natural cycles as tools for aesthetic expression and sociopolitical protest. This article aims to highlight how art—through an ecofeminist perspective—can reshape both individual and collective memory, demonstrating the poetic and political connections between women’s bodies and nature.
