Ana Pellicer, a Mexican sculptor celebrated for her monumental copper creations, has died at age 79. Mexico’s culture ministry announced her death this week without specifying a cause. Pellicer gained international recognition later in life for the oversized jewelry she created for the Statue of Liberty, including a 36-foot-tall necklace exhibited at MoMA PS1 in New York in 2018 as part of the show “Body Armor.” Born in Mexico City in 1946, she spent much of her career in the shadow of her husband, sculptor James Metcalf, and together they trained female artisans in Santa Clara del Cobre in ancient copper techniques, founding the Centro de Acción Educativa.
Pellicer’s work matters because it bridged contemporary sculpture, feminist symbolism, and indigenous craft traditions, earning praise for strengthening folk art and social justice in Mexico. Her Statue of Liberty jewelry, completed in 1986 but not widely seen until a 2017 exhibition at House of Gaga in Mexico City, reimagined femininity as both protective and imposing. Despite some criticism of the social art project behind her work, Pellicer’s legacy lies in transforming how art connects to tradition and community, as noted by Mexico’s culture ministry.