Born in Mexico City. Visual artist. Bachelor degree on Graphic Design. Graduated from the Academia nacional de San Carlos ENAP-UNAM (National Visual Arts School-National Autonomous University of Mexico) with a masters degree on visual arts 1997-2000. In her theorical formation she has been thaught by Juan Acha, Carlos Blas Galindo, Alberto Hijar and Julio Chavez Guerrero (Director of the Academia nacional de San Carlos).

In 1993 and 1994 she was instructed in various schools of the INBA (National Institute of Fine Arts) in sensibilization and creativity workshops. She finished three diplomates in the same institution, the last one on Museography(1999-2000). In 1996 she attended several courses on Art History at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. From 1995 to 1997 she formed part of the painting workshops of the teachers Javier Anzures and Jose Salat in the Academia Nacional de San Carlos.

In 1997 she started her formation on Performance Art at the Museo Universitario del Chopo UNAM taking part in the workshops given by: Susan Lewis (British artist), Bartolome Ferrando (Professor at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia) and tutorials with Coco Fusco (N.Y. based artist).

Since 1995 she has been teaching at various universities in the Graphic Design and Visual Communication areas. She has more than 15 colective expositions incluiding "Cuadro Negro" at the Centro Cultural Ollin Yolitzli, "Encuentro de Cultura 1997" in the Flaminio Stadium in Rome and "Mexpoart" in Perugia Italy. She has done 5 individual expositions the last one "Mi camino de suenos" in the cultural corridor of the Colonia Roma at the Galery of the Universidad de la Comunicacion.

In September she will present "Daguerre o lineas" in Foto Septiembre at CAJA DOS FONCA-INBA with the colaboration of Fernando Fuentes. She has presented 30 performances in various places of the INBA,UNAM and FONCA (National Endowment for Culture and Arts) and on the streets with the topic of women  and the relationship of a couple

Fernando Fuentes and Lorena Méndez on Performance.

We have been working together for two years, our first performance had the characteristics of an intervention because we did it on the street and inside two houses. It was an atempt to redefine the situation we were living in, she had a long relationship on her back and I became the intruder, I was participating in the performance without being there because she had to work with that person who was the active couple at the time. The whole piece was planned by both of us and the former boyfriend took part exactly as we thought, something which rarely occurs and maybe at that time we couldn´t realize it was like that. We wanted to work on the chains we use to mantain a relationship without caring about how much of a burden they represent. I had a very old dishwasher in my kitchen, I took apart all the pieces which were to heavy to move it, as well as the racks and pieces that come inside the washing space to make enough room for a person to sit without avoiding the door to close. A man had to sit inside while she pulled the machine through a very stretch way to come out of the house and to the other side of the street where the galery, ( CajaDos-artenativo) which is more of what we used to call an alternative or underground space, was. After arriving to CajaDOs she sat on top of the diswasher and after a few minutes she opened it to pull the man out, then she started huging and kissing him to finish beating him very hard. The action didn´t have an impact on any of the participants because their movements weren´t very honest, they were carrying out an idea which didn´t mean anything to them, leaving honesty away from their work. In this very moment we decided to work together if we ever wanted to do something which at least had us inside the piece even if the ideas weren´t so good.

Ever since, we have tried to escape pure conceptualisms. Meaning that even if the concepts form a neuralgic part of performance in our work they do not escape the experiences we have within our everyday routine as a couple. We don´t want our work to become a visual exhibition of ideas or a simple connection between thought and action either. It is more of a simple but deep reflexion. Honesty is the main characteristic of our work.

This first experience working together wasn´t as important in Lorena´s process as it was for me, but it meant the begining of the projects we have worked on until today and the ones we are planing and working on for the future.

P E R F O R M A N C E S

SURVIVE ARCIMBOLDO

July 2000, Jardín Borda, Cuernavaca Morelos.

In previous performances we have worked on the concept of anthropophagy. In this one we do it slightly suggesting it, because the use of food that does not come from the body takes us irremediably away from it. Nevertheless the use the body as a tool to accomplish the nutritional chain denotes a preocupation on eating through another one. A simple presentation of one of the many conducts which distinguishes every living being, an act of survival in which the ludicrous prevails.

PAN Y CUERNOS

May 2000, Mexico City cathedral. 180-2-181
August 2000, CajaDos-Artenativo, Mexico City.

P E R F O R M A N C E S

WEG-2
October 1999, Museo Universitario del Chopo
UNAM, México City.

In the search for that place where we get divided.In the use of strength to embody the duality we form. In the begining of an iminent fracture.

ESTANCADOS
April 2000, POLANCO, Mexico City.

In our actions we intend to make time and space perceptible. Stoping during rush hour in a normal workday results in a contrast to those persons who involuntarily step into our pasiveness. Water: place in which we perceive the mass and weight of our bodies and its movements too.

BIBLIAE PAUPERUM
February 2000, Ex-teresa arte actual, Mexico City.

A ceremony that places our bodies in a time outside the time. Intimacy as the moment in which we found ourselves acting unusually in any space.