top of page

La Cantadora; she who sings the lost stories.

Writer's picture: Taylor ValdezTaylor Valdez

An introduction to my next body of work.


This body of work centers around the impact that stories have in space and time, and their ability to open portals into other worlds.


Here I offer you a story I have woven that represents this series as a whole, it is a creation story, and each piece will have its own story-song to be sung.


La Cantadora, she who sings the lost stories.

A mythological narrative based on the wild feminine and her ability to open portals to other worlds through her stories. 


La Cantadora literally sings herself into existence, or rather,

the story-songs sing her into existence.


All beings have a song inside them, and when those beings die with their songs unsung, the songs remain intact after death floating off into the infinite invisible realms of Spirit, lost and alone in a vast and timeless void. That is until La Cantadora finds them. And when she does she swallows them whole like a snake sending them straight into her cauldron belly, stirring and stirring and stirring, absorbing every morsel, every minute shadowy corner of this long lost story-song until she herself becomes it. Sometimes the song begins as a soft hum or a blood-curdling scream, sometimes it’s beautifully melodic or completely off beat, sometimes there are words, sometimes only sounds, and every once in a very special while, there is silence.


La Cantadora, as a title, is inspired by Clarissa Pinkola Estes author of Women Who Run With the Wolves, she calls herself a Cantadora as they do in her Mexican lineage as one who is the keeper of the old stories. La Cantadora translates literally to “the singer-songwriter”. But as a story, La Cantadora is inspired by a soul mission of liberation through the art of storytelling.


This body of work is deeply personal and reflects the stages of my own life and inner world. Each piece will be a mythical representation of one of the many stories that have shaped who I am and who I am becoming. The beauty of storytelling is that there are no limits, they take us to places within the imagination that stretch who we are, beyond the boundaries of time and space. They are literal bridges to wolds beyond our wildest dreams. My intention with this body of work is also a deep study into the lost art of storytelling.



37 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


© 2023 Taylor Ana Valdez

  • Instagram
bottom of page