About
Biography:
Born in Colombia and raised in Panama, Dahlia Dreszer is a photo artist whose work explores the intersection of identity, memory, and cultural heritage. Dreszer’s large-scale photographs transform cultural narratives into layered compositions that blur the boundaries between the interiors of homes her family has lived in and the outside world. Her immersive installations combine still-life images with textiles, plants, and personal objects, creating a surrounding visually bursting with color and detail in which to explore a story of diaspora and belonging. A graduate of Emory University with a background in Media and Photography, Dahlia’s innovative approach challenges traditional photography by merging reality and artifice, creating multilayered visual experiences that invite viewers to explore the evolving nature of cultural identity in contemporary society.
Artist Statement:
I am a multidisciplinary artist of Colombian, Panamanian, Jewish and Arab heritage working primarily in photography and installation. My work explores cultural identity, memory, and the evolving meaning of home within the diasporic experience—how we carry, adapt, and reconstruct our sense of place across generations. Through my practice, I aim to create intimate, immersive spaces that honor the quiet power of lived memory and challenge traditional notions of archive and authorship.
As someone from a lineage shaped by migration, I’m drawn to domestic spaces—not only as physical interiors, but as emotional landscapes where ancestral histories take root. Everyday objects like textiles, furniture, and family photos become vessels for resilience and cultural continuity. These are the lived archives of diaspora, where identity is woven into the fabric of the everyday.
I work primarily with photography, found objects, and natural materials, often combining these with fabric and installation to create tactile, layered environments. In my ongoing project Bringing the Outside In, I merge large-scale still-life photography with personal materials—my grandmother’s scarves, dried plants, household surfaces—to blur the boundary between image and object, memory and presence. The result is a living archive—intimate, ephemeral, and grounded in personal history.
My process is both research-based and intuitive. I also incorporate AI into my practice, using a custom-trained image generator based on my own visual language to create imagined interiors and hybrid landscapes. For me, AI functions as a conceptual collaborator—expanding how memory, space, and identity can be visualized while raising questions about collective authorship, technology, and cultural preservation.
My work is influenced by diasporic narratives, oral history, and material culture. I am especially drawn to symbolism, repetition, and the tension between presence and absence. Through my work, I invite viewers to consider how memory lives in objects, how we carry culture through generations, and how technology might help us reimagine both past and future.
Education
2018 | Bachelor's Degree in Media and Photography with a concentration in Film and Media Management, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
2024 | Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Photography Workshop
2024 | Main Media, Creating Storytelling Collages with Photoshop Workshop
2025 | WOPHA Institute, A complete guide for successful Application
Solo Exhibitions
2025 | Bringing the Outside In at Green Space Miami, Curatorial Advisor, Ronald Sanchez, Miami, FL
2025 | Bringing the Outside In, pop-up at Laundromat Art Space, Curator Ronald Sanchez, Miami, FL
2024 | Bringing the Outside In, Museo Grau, Bogota, Colombia - 3 person show
2023 | Boca Raton JCC Gallery Exhibition, Boca Raton, USA
2019 | Mas Allà del Lente, Selina, Panama City, Panama
2019 | Mas Allà del Lente, Hombre de la Macha, Panama City, Panama
Group Exhibitions
2024 | Context Art Miami, Liquid Art Systems Gallery, Miami, USA
2024 | Art Wynwood, Liquid Art Systems Gallery, Miami, USA
2023 | Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa, USA
2023 | Aqua Art Miami, Miami, USA
2023 | Aves Migratorias at Frost Museum, Miami, USA
2021 | Gallery Aluxiik Tulum, Tulum, Mexico
2019 | Time Atelier, Gallery Axis Pioneer Square, Seattle, USA
2019 | Photography Show & Media Art Happening, Gallery Axis Pioneer Square, Seattle, USA
2019 | Capitol Hill Art Walk, Cloud Room Exhibit, Seattle, USA
2019 | Abstracción, Sensación, Intuición, y Color, Raw Gallery, Panama City, Panama
2019 | Metáfora Salvaje, Museo Regional de Veraguas, Veraguas, Panama
2019 | Pop up Art, Macrofest Panama, Panama City, Panama
2017 | Cox Media Exhibit, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
2016 | Woodruff Library Photography Exhibit, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
Professional Service
2025 | Pinta Panama, advisory to the City of Panama
2025 | Frost Art Museum, Gen-AI Arts teaching for docents
Collections
Liquid Art Systems Gallery, Miami, USA
Legacy Fine Art Gallery, Panama City, Panama
Aluxiik Gallery, Tulum, Mexico
Publications / Bibliography
2025 | Irene Sperber, “A Tale Of Two Galleries: 'Fragile Terrain' And 'Open Water' Bring the Outside In”, Miami Art Zine
Panels & Moderated Events
2025 | Gen AI Art Generator + Flower Drying Workshop, Kids JAMM, Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL (Curated and led workshop)
2025 | Artist Talk, Green Space Miami
2025 | Collectors Round Table, Green Space Miami
2025 | Gen AI in the Arts, Green Space Miami (Panel Moderator)
2025 | Women Leaders in the Arts, Green Space Miami (Panel Moderator)
2025 | Women of the Cloud, Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL (Moderator)
2024 | Gen AI Art Gallery, Reinvent 2024, Las Vegas, NV (85,000 attendees)
2024 | Women of the Cloud – AWS, Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL (Moderator)
Professional Service
Amazon Web Services, Solutions Architect Certification