The Art and Photography of Lidia Tohar have journeyed far under the sun and occasionally in its shadows. Born in Cuba in 1964, Lidia's family fled the Castro regime when she was 7 years old and resettled in Hollywood, CA, where she was raised. Following a career in fashion retail, Lidia's art changed focus after traveling in Europe where her interest in Fine Art emerged. Inspired by her travels and following her return to the USA, Lidia embarked on her studies in Illustration at Otis Parsons in LA, and later Parsons Art Institute, in New York.

The Caribbean influence can be easily discerned in her work: the vibrant colors and the early sensuousness reminiscent of Matisse. Yet the feminine spirituality that infuses the work is all her own.

Now from her Studio in South Florida, Lidia's work explores her Caribbean heritage by fusing her personal story of displacement and return within the framework of an emerging American life. She describes her art as an 'intuitive modernism', one that foregrounds the search for self in a fragmentary world of flux, change, loss and ultimate transformation. Lidia's vibrant and bold use of color illumines her subjects in much the same way as light hits a stained glass window; there is both a spiritual and physical illumination at the core of her artistic expression – a dialogue between the inner landscape of the psyche and the outer reality of the physical world.

Drawing from her background in Illustration and Fashion Design – Lidia’s work often centers upon the figurative exploration of the female form in all its guises. But you will not find her interrogations of femininity a template from which female identity is standardized - instead, her art offers a departure from received modes of representing the feminine. Utilizing her rich exploration of symbolism, Lidia creates imagined worlds that re-map and re-envision interior landscapes in a culture preoccupied with the surface of things.

Inspirations are diverse and include: the art of Matisse, O’Keefe, Kandinskii & Picasso; the fashion of Yves Saint Laurent; the photography of Karl Blossfeldt; Hollywood musicals; nature in all its forms - especially the Tropics; childhood; world music; memory and her world travels.

Lidia works in Acrylics, Watercolor, Pastels & Indian ink. She is an award winning photographer and is available for Commissions, Portraits and Personal Sittings.

Employment History