image by Norma C. Rodriguez
Zonia Zena is a visual artist and archivist born in Peru, currently based between Miami Beach, Florida, and Lima, Peru. Trained in documentary photography at the beginning of her practice, she continues to draw on that sensibility while expanding her work into the realm of fine art. Her images move between observation and introspection, serving as a bridge into explorations of memory, presence, and the personal landscapes shaped by her migration experience and archival practice.
She earned a BFA from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida (2011), and a MLIS graduate from University of Alabama (2024), where she was awarded the Social Justice Archivists Grant.
She has attended residencies at Villa Iris- Fundacion-Botin, Santander-Spain (2012), Women Artist Archive Miami (2023), and Oolite Arts "Live and Arts" residency, Miami Beach, Florida (2025-2026). She was part of The Eddie Adams workshop in 2022, The New York Times Portfolio review, and The Foundry Photojournalism workshop in 2023. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Spain (2011-2012). Her work appears in the Women Photographers International Archive, Miami New Times, The Sunday Times UK, held in private collections, and has been exhibited in various venues across the American continent including, FIFV (Festival Internacional de Fotografia de Valparaiso), WOPHA congress and recently 2026 Feria Ch.ACO 16 in Santiago de Chile.
Her practice is evolving toward a deeper dialogue between biography, memory, and the sensorial world, weaving them into visual narratives that continually expand and shift.