Liliana Guzmán

Niña con alas or Girl with Wings, was one of the later pieces made from Next to Myself that combined many smaller photo-paintings. One in particular is seen in the middle left of the composition where there are two green masked figures crouching in which one has pink feathery wings. The idea of wings symbolizes a desire for clarity and signifies a part of yourself that is more rebellious and active. The central figure in the white transparent dress and veil has wings but is still reaching up towards a pair of hands in order to escape the chaotic scene she finds herself in. When you think about what it might look like inside of your own mind or inside of the mind of someone else, I imagine it to be a space of tangled emotions, memories, things that are hidden and revealed, gestures and actions all mixed together.

Liliana Guzmán is a photographer and painter whose artwork entwines topics of the body, memory, sexuality, and the hidden landscapes of the self.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Indiana, Liliana completed her BA at Earlham College with a double concentration in Photography and French and Francophone Studies. Throughout high school and college she traveled abroad to Mexico, Ecuador, and France studying language and studio art. In May of 2021 Liliana completed her MFA in Photography at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design at Indiana University Bloomington.  

Her photographic practice incorporates a wide range of techniques and mediums from film photography and alternative processes to digital photography, painting, and drawing. Through the recurring subject matter of hands, touch and gesture, Liliana’s artwork expresses touch as not only a formative and intimate experience but as one that establishes both internal and external connections within ourselves and those around us.

Most recently she has exhibited at the Soho Photo Gallery, the Indianapolis Art Center and Manifest Gallery where she was a finalist for the Manifest Grand Jury Prize for 15th exhibition season. Her series Next to Myself was included in the 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize: 26 to Watch and will be exhibited in her first solo exhibition at the Amalie Rothschild Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 2022.