Paula Silva graduated with a licenciature in Sculpture in 1999 from the University of Porto, Portugal-Faculty of Fine Arts. The final year prior to graduation she was an exchange student at the University of Bilbao, Faculty of Fine Arts , Spain.

In the last 8 years Paula has been researching art focused on the social space. During the European Capital Cultural in 2001, she curated "Interactive spaces", a community engaged, site-specific art project, focused on the city of Porto, developed in collaboration with artists from 9 different European countries.

Shortly before her relocation to Tasmania in 2005, she completed a 4 year project in collaboration with a Porto local council. The publication involved the children of a notorious social housing neighborhood in Porto. The publication was titled, 'Artists from Aleixo Neighborhood' .

Paula also developed work for the educational services of the Contemporary Art Museum of Funacao de Serralves. The museum was producing innovative strategies to deliver and engage the public with contemporary art and its practitioners.

In January 2007 Paula presented a curatorial work in Hobart titled 'MADE PUBLIC', a contemporary art exhibition presented at the Carnegie Gallery.
Currently Paula is employed by the Housing and Community Research Unit, Tasmania University, to develop and present in 2008 an exhibition focused on the development and transformation of wider Hobart and its communities.

Paula lives and works in Hobart, Tasmania.