I was born in Haifa, Israel, and grew up in a home surrounded by my uncle’s paintings. My uncle, Adolf Milich, was a contributing member of the School of Paris painters in the 1920s; all of his work survived WWII, with a sizeable collection finding a place in our Tel Aviv home. It was my uncle’s elegant, freeform technique that I later emulated in my early career as a painter. The gentle strokes of my uncle’s brush somehow helped soften the heavy cloud of trauma that weighed on the shoulders of my Holocaust survivor parents, and by-proxy, me and my brother. This post-traumatic atmosphere not only impacted my artistic development but was also the driving force behind my decision to move to the United States with my two small children in 1981.

I struggled with the hardships of being an immigrant mother in America during a period of hyperinflation and unemployment. Nevertheless, I worked hard to cultivate my artistic career, having my first exhibition at the East Brunswick Museum in central New Jersey shortly after our arrival. While trying to sell my work across venues in the Tri-State area, I started to pursue another passion of mine – textiles, and fashion. I established my own high-fashion knitwear company labeled “Aya Bendat” and opened a small showroom on 7 th Avenue in New York.

My mother taught me to knit when I was four years old so that I could dress my own dolls. She insisted that I remember that it was her knitting skills that enabled her to buy food and medication for her mother while they were cordoned off in the ghetto. For my mother, knitting was not just an art but a survival skill. Later, as a knitwear designer, I embraced this notion by not only providing for my young family through my work but by designing “wearable art.” I wove intricate canvases through the fabric and sculpted elaborate buttons, all of which helped to distinguish me from the competition. As a result, my business flourished, and my line was carried by fine stores such as Saks Fifth Ave, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom.

After fifteen years as an entrepreneur, I felt compelled to return to my roots as an artist and release myself from the restraints and incessant demands of the fashion industry. I closed my studio on Seventh Avenue and dedicated myself exclusively to painting, printing, and ceramics. I thus pursued additional training and studied at the National Academy as well as the Art Student League in New York.

During these years, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery to find my internal and artistic voices. The contemporary art market at the time favored post-modernist trends that were at odds with my own style as a painter. Unable to reconcile my aesthetic ideologies with those of the market, I ultimately chose a different path.

My frustration with the contemporary art scene led me to adopt ceramics as my new medium. I wanted to create authentic, down-to-earth work that was timeless and built upon the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of human experience. I love the simplicity, modesty, and functional aspects of pottery but I am also fascinated by wheel-throwing as a sculpting technique for the development of abstract forms.

In addition to my formal art education, I participated in many select workshops across New York, Florida, Tel Aviv, and Italy. These classes were led by masters such as Peter Voulkas, Malcolm Davis, Sam Chung, and Jennifer McCurdy. To round out my education, I earned a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts at Tel Aviv University, which ultimately led me to publish a book in 2015 that explored the intricate relationship between humor, trauma, ethics, and aesthetics. In 2014, I joined the docent program at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach to share my passion for fine arts with the public and help them understand art’s role in humanity’s development throughout time.

My enduring quest to educate myself and refine my artistic voice continues through today. As a painter, I find myself influenced by works from Johannes Vermeer and Edward Hopper and am captivated by Pierre Bonnard’s mysterious, luminous paintings. I am also inspired by Richard Diebenkorn’s color application and free-flowing, geometric compositions. I also love the purity of Alex Katz’s colorwork and abstract yet expressive forms.

In my work, particularly in my portraits, I recreate my subjects with lush, loose brushstrokes that engender an unfinished element, encouraging the audience to unravel a mystery through personal interpretation and imagination. In ceramics, I work primarily in porcelain because I enjoy its fluidity as well as the challenge of manipulating the clay. I strive to elicit its luminosity by using celadon glazes, all the while treating the porcelain like a textile that I serrate and pattern to fit a given piece’s purpose.