A Pile of Dreams

Taylor Ana Valdez  11x14 inches   Oil on Panel This work is part of the exhibition "In The Palm of Her Hands", September 15-October 20, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Taylor Ana Valdez (b.1994) is a self-taught artist and healer, whose meditative exploration into worlds beyond, heavily influence her painting practice. Following an upbringing in the Bahamas, Spain, and the American West, Valdez studied at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and the KD Conservatory in Dallas, TX. She came to oil painting while living in Santa Fe, where she studied under William Acheff, and later Christopher Remmers. Valdez works as a guide for wilderness rites of passages, a guided, meditative journey of healing and self-discovery. This practice is critical to her work, where she keeps initiatory experiences alive in a culture that lacks soul-centric rites of passages and ceremonies. Valdez is also trained in Ayurvedic and tantr