Bio
Silvia Lizama, born in Havana, Cuba, moved to South Florida in 1960. She earned a BFA from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, and an MFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. She served as Professor of Photography and Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, for 37 years and was awarded the distinguished title of Professor Emerita upon her retirement in 2023.
Having exhibited locally since 1978, her hand-colored photographs have gained national and international attention and have been included in prestigious exhibitions and collections. Major awards include the Southern Arts Federation/NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowship Grant (1993) and the South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant (1992 and 2015), as well as, a Miami Dade Art in Public Places commission for the Deering Estate in Miami, Florida (1999).
Ms. Lizama’s work appears in the following publications: Puertas a la Imaginacion, Miami, Florida (2011), Reflections: The Sensationalism of the Art from Cuba by Alexis Mendoza (2009), Espacio C: Arte Contemporaneo, Camargo, España (2006), Breaking Barriers (Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Publication, 1997), Aperture 141 Cuba: Image and Imagination (Aperture, Fall 1995), Outside Cuba/Fuera de Cuba (Rutgers University Publication, 1989), Photographic Retouching (Eastman Kodak Publication, 1987) and Darkroom Expression (Eastman Kodak Publication, 1984) among others.
Listen to Silvia Lizama’s Interview
Artist Statement
In November 1960, just before I turned three, my family left Cuba for Miami fully expecting to return once the political situation stabilized. What was meant to be a temporary move became a permanent life in the U.S., a country that offered us freedom and opportunity.
When curator Aldeide Delgado invited me to participate in the “Shared Documentary Narratives” exhibition at History Miami Museum, I began reflecting on my body of photographic work from the past 40-plus years. While I don’t identify strictly as a documentary photographer, my art has naturally captured the evolving landscapes and stories of South Florida. Projects such as documenting the Freedom Tower’s renovation, SW 8th Street, and various historic Florida sites came to mind, many of which no longer exist. However, my focus kept returning to a more personal project—an exploration of the negatives my mother left behind after her passing.
These negatives, many of which I had never seen before, were in poor condition—damaged, fused together, out of focus and streaked with light leaks from the bellows of my mother’s Kodak Kodon No.0 camera. What initially seemed like flaws revealed something more profound: they encapsulated the immigrant experience of my family and countless other Cuban refugees in Miami during the early 1960s. The images documented everyday life, our family, our home, our celebrations; reconnecting me with a childhood filled with joy, despite the underlying trauma my parents and older sisters must have felt.
Inspired by these fragile negatives, I chose to scan and digitally hand-color them, reviving their faded memories with my own recollections. This process pays homage to the Pictorialist photographers who prioritized emotional depth over strict documentation. Hand coloring has been a constant of my artistic practice for years, traditionally applied using photo oils on gelatin silver prints. For this series I translated that technique digitally, allowing the deterioration of the negatives to enhance the images, turning imperfections into integral elements of the narrative.
To present these works, I printed them large-scale on sheer fabric, suspended from the ceiling, creating an immersive environment that invites viewers to step into these moments and memories with me.