Mary Aiu is an award-winning fine art photographer who spends her time pursuing beautiful horses around the world. Her work is noted for its ethereal feel, blending photographic components that often result in a painterly quality of the horse in motion. She has been described as an artist who conveys the profound beauty and depth of spirit in horses.

Mary’s equine portfolio was selected as a Photo Lucida Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist in 2019, and a Rfotofolio Selections Portfolio Series in both 2019 and 2020. Her work has been shown in solo exhibits and small group shows, as well as numerous juried exhibits including the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, and the Texas Photographic Society. She has also been a guest lecturer at the Monterey Museum of Art where she spoke of photomontage in the digital age, and was a TV broad- cast panelist on West Coast Focus; Jerry Uelsmann’s Influence. Her work has been featured in publications including Lenswork and multiple issues of Black & White Magazine.

Mary holds a BFA from the California College of the Arts, and is a member of the ImageMakers of Monterey.

Mary Aiu:   Curriculum Vitae

Education

BFA California College of Art, San Francisco, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2023 Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Unbridled: The Horse at Liberty, Sacramento, CA

2022 Griffin Museum of Photography, Unbridled: The Horse at Liberty, Winchester, MA

2021 Pacific Grove Art Center, Held by a Horse Again, Pacific, Grove CA

2019 Milinda Perry Gallery, Held by a Horse, Benicia, CA

2015 Napa Valley Public Library, For the Love of the Horse, Napa, CA

2014 Ledgewood Creek Winery, For the Love of the Horse, Fairfield, CA

2012 Vacaville Art League Gallery, Spotlight Artist, Vacaville, CA

Group Exhibitions

2023 Harvey Milk Photo Center, ImageMakers: Frame of Mind, San Francisco, CA

2022 Pacific Grove Art Center, Image Makers Celebrating 25 Years, Pacific Grove, CA

2020   Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, In the Shadow of the Corona, Carmel, CA

2019 Gallery at 48 Natoma, Three Women Photographers, Folsom, CA 

2018 PhotoCentral, Spring Show, Hayward, CA

2017    Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Nothing but Blue Skies: Art of the West, Carmel, CA

Gallery 625, Unbridled, Woodland, CA

Center for Photographic Art, ImageMakers: 20 Years of Creativity, Carmel, CA

Photo Methode Gallery, InPrint, Austin, TX

2016 Pacific Grove Art Center, Wildlife Beyond Borders, Pacific Grove, CA

Art Ark, Wildlife Beyond Borders, San Jose, CA

Keeble & Shuchat, Wildlife Beyond Borders, Palo Alto, CA

2015 PhotoCentral, Wildlife Beyond Borders, Hayward, CA

2014 Museum of Monterey, ImageMakers, Monterey, CA

Juried Exhibitions

2023 ASmith Gallery, Imagined

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Imagined, Sacramento, CA

2022 Haggin Museum, 61st Juried Exhibition, Stockon, CA

2021 Center for Photographic Art, 2021 Members' Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Triton Museum of Art, Salon at the Triton, Santa Clara, CA

Texas Photographic Society, 34th Members' Only Show, Amarillo Museum of Art, Texas

2020   Center for Fine Art Photography, Portraits Exhibition, Fort Collins, CA

2019 Center for Photographic Art, 2019 International Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Center for Photographic Art, 2019 Juried Members’ Exhibition,  Carmel, CA

Center for Fine Art Photography, Black & White Exhibition, Fort Collins, CO

Texas Photographic Society, TPS 28 International Exhibition, Houston, TX

Texas Photographic Society 32nd Members’ Show, Denver, CO

Robert Anderson Gallery, Small Works, Denver, CO

California State Fair, 2019 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

Marin Society of Artists, Images 2019, San Rafael, CA

2018 Texas Photographic Society, TPS 31st Members’ Show, Houston, TX

California State Fair, 2018 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

2017 Center for Photographic Art, 2017 Members’ Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Triton Museum of Art, Salon at the Triton, Santa Clara, CA

San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 2017 New Visions, San Luis Obispo, CA

California State Fair, 2017 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

ViewPoint Photographic Art Center, Twelve; Balanced, Sacramento, CA

Benicia Arts, Magical Realism, Benicia, CA

12th Annual Black & White Spider Awards, Wildlife and Portrait Categories, Online              

2016 Rfotofolio Selections, InPrint, Rfotofolio an Online Curated Space

ViewPoint Photographic Art Center, Twelve, It’s about Time, Sacramento, CA

11th Annual Black&White Spider Awards, Fine Art, Wildlife, & People Categories, Online            

2015 Center for Photographic Art, 2015 International Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Center for Fine Art Photography, Black & White Exhibition, Fort Collins, CO

Center for Photographic Art, Members' 2015 Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

ViewPoint Photographic Art Center, Twelve, Photoshopped, Sacramento, CA

Blue Line Arts, Freeze Frame, Roseville, CA

California State Fair, 2015 Juried Fine Arts Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

2014 Center for Photographic Art 2014 International Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Triton Museum of Art, 2014 Statewide Photo Exhibition, Santa Clara, CA

Half Moon Bay Art Center, Kellicult International Photo Exhibition, Half Moon Bay, CA

California State Fair, 2014 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

Western States Horse Expo, Equine Dream Art Exhibit, Sacramento, CA

Arts Benicia, Art of a Community, Benicia, CA

2013 Kiernan Gallery, Creatures, Lexington, VA

California State Fair, 2013 Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Sacramento, CA

Publications

2024 Shadow & Light Magazine, The Horse

2022 Mark Feeney from the Boston Globe review of my solo exhibit at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Seven Photographers on Four Legs

2020 Rfotofolio Selections, Portfolio Selection Horses Among the Tress, Jurors Rfotofolio

Pinecone Newspaper Page 29A, Impressions with Photography , by Dennis Taylor

2019 Rfotofolio Selections, Portfolio Selection On the Run, Juror Brian Taylor

Benicia Magazine, Held by a Horse Featuring Mary Aiu at Milinda Perry Gallery

Mountain Democrat, Natures Beauty on Display at Gallery 48

2016 Rfotofolio, Online Curated Space, Artist Interview

Rfotofolio, InPrint Selections

Works in Print

2020 True North Editions Publications, Contributor to Finding Peace in a Restless World

Black White Magazine, Portfolio Edition

2019 Black White Magazine, Black & White Single Image

2018 Black White Magazine, Black & White Single Image

2016 Lenswork Publishing, New Shoes Portfolio, Seeing in Sixes Book 

Black White Magazine, Black & White Single Image

2015 True North Editions Publications, Contributor to Wildlife Beyond Borders

Black White Magazine, Spotlight Single Image

Awards

2020 Rfotofolio Selections, Portfolio Series, Horses Among the Trees

2019 Photolucida, Photolucida Critical Mass Top 200, Portland, OR

Rfotofolio Selections, Portfolio Series, On the Run, Award of Merit

Texas Photographic Society, TPS 20 International Exhibition, Honorable Mention

2018 California State Fair, 2018 Juried Fine Art Show, Juror’s Award

California State Fair, 2018 Juried Fine Art Show, Award of Excellence     

PhotoCentral, Spring Show, Best of Show Black & White

2017 Black & White Spider Awards, People Category, Honorable Mention             

2016 Rfotofolio an Online Curated Space, InPrint, Award of Merit,

2016 Black & White Spider Awards, Wildlife Category, Honorable Mention,

2015 Black White Magazine, Best in Conceptual Category Single Image Spotlight Award

Public Speaking 

2020 Community of Digital Artists, Artist Talk, Scotts Valley, CA

2019 Padre Trails Camera Club, Artist Talk, Pacific Grove, CA

2017 West Coast Focus; TV Broadcast Panelist, Jerry Uelsmann’s Influence

Monterey Museum of Art, Guest Lecturer, Photomontage in the Digital Age

2015 Napa Valley Public Library, Artist Talk, Napa, CA