I have lived and worked in New York City since 1983, after completing an MFA in Painting with Honors from American University in Washington, DC (1981-1983), and a BFA in Painting from Boston University (1975-1979). I received recognition early on for my work, including three residencies at the MacDowell Colony, 1985, 1987 and 1992; a Penny McCall Grant in 1989; and an Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) fellowship at the Bronx Museum in 1992-1993. Additionally, my work was included in a number of important group shows including: “Wheel of Fortune”, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, NYC, Curator Amy Lipton, group show, Dec. 6 - Jan. 6, 1996; “In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the '90s; Part I: Issues of Gender”, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, NYC, group show, Curator, Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, July 9 - Sept. 17, 1995; “For Appearance Sake”, Horodner Romley Gallery, NYC, group show, Curator, Saul Ostrow, Sept. 9 - Oct. 1, 1994; and “Huma Bhaba, Aleya Saad, Randy Wray”, Lauren Wittels Gallery, NYC, group show, Apr. 15 - May 8, 1994, among others.

My early work—monochromatic imaginary landscape paintings based on photographs of formal gardens—evolved from stretched canvas oil paintings, to paintings on shaped canvas “garments”, then to garments constructed from fabric, and then there was a leap forward to photography, although this was a gradual evolution; presently, my work involves all these varied practices: painting, sewing, photography, etc. Initially, when I turned to photography, I was working with medium- and large-format film cameras, but over the past four or five years, I transitioned to a medium-format digital camera, although I am currently working with a large-format film camera adapted to a medium-format digital camera.

Over the past three years I have been able to work full-time in my studio in Brooklyn, and have started to receive recognition for my work: photographs as well as photobooks. My work has been featured three times over the past couple of years on L'Oeil de la Photographie; my photobooks have been included in the prestigious INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks (2014, 2016); and my pictures have been included in several group exhibitions.

CV link: http://www.aleyalehmannbench.com/pagecv/