Note: This website is currently under construction. Some features and content may be incomplete or not yet available.
Monique Lehman is an artist who narrates the world with fabric and incidentally disarms it with her smile and goodwill.
Monique Chmielewska-Lehman is one of the most prominent Polish artists. She has lived in the USA since 1978, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and authored over 100 textile art projects showcased on four continents. Lehman participated in 30 exhibitions over the last six years and over 100 exhibitions throughout her 50-year career. Her works have been displayed often in China, Mexico, Canada, the USA, Italy, and Poland. She has significantly contributed to promoting the Polish school of textile art and Polish artists worldwide, introducing new techniques and the Polish “painting” tapestry style to the USA. What defines her work is novelty, creative invention, harmony, and balance – it will become a defining chapter of Polish art and culture.
Monique received a master’s degree from the Cathedral of Conservation and Restoration of Sculpture and Architectural Elements at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1978. She currently works in Poland and the USA, where she creates bespoke tapestries of cathedrals, synagogues, town halls, and hospitals. She works in various artistic organisations. She writes articles about Polish works and artists for specialist publications dedicated to textile art. She is a judge at the From Lausanne to Beijing International Biennale and the curator of the Material Art Biennale in China. Along with her brother, Artur Chmielewski, she wrote Papcio Chmiel udomowiony. Wątek sławy is a book by Klaudia Frant about Monique’s colourful life and portfolio.
Monique herself is considered one of the most fascinating figures in the international textile art scene. Her work balances technical perfection with unconstrained expression. She creates entire 2D and 3D universes out of thread – both real and figurative. To her, art only has meaning if it moves, shocks, and leaves its audience with a smile (or a reflection).
But Monique Lehman is not just an artist. She is deeply rooted in relationships and devoted to her family and friends. She shares her life with David Lehman, her biggest supporter and life partner. She is the sister of Artur B. Chmielewski, NASA’s visionary and her kindred spirit in creative exploration. She has become a chosen grandmother to Joseph Mudrak, a young man whose heart beats to the rhythm of technology and childlike curiosity. Monique always offers them her time, her warmth, and a story.
Known for her huge heart for people, she can simultaneously curate international exhibitions, support young artists, and organise a dinner with friends that ends at two in the morning with a conversation about the meaning of life and quality materials for embroidery.
Monique says she “thinks with fabric”. But in both her 2D and 3D artworks, she thinks of people just as often. Because for her, art is not just a form but a bond. And that, as we know, is strongest when we weave it by hand.