She received her BFA in 1977 from the Philadelphia College of Art, where she studied with Ree Morton, and her MFA in 1980 from Yale University, where she worked with Elizabeth Murray, Mel Bochner, and Judy Pfaff.

[8] Made of burlap, plaster, plastic, chicken wire, rope, and various types of paint, Fishman's sculptures resembled violently disassembled bodies, referencing the history of post-minimalism as well as contemporaneous feminist critiques of the patriarchal view of women as primarily corporeal and abject.

"[2] Working generatively (using earlier artworks as the starting point for new ones), Fishman began to make large-scale drawings based on the sculptures, reimagining her organic forms and socially-critical concepts in a new medium.

[9] During the late 1980s, Fishman switched processes again and began to create mixed-media paintings on wood that incorporated collage elements made with photocopier machines.

In the early 1990s, Fishman began to mix appropriated images of stars and nebulae with her cellular imagery to suggest more analogies between the body and space, micro- and macrocosm.

[11] These tondo-shaped canvases culminated in large-scale installations like Intervention at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1995, which incorporated the DIA’s great entrance hall—lined with vitrines containing medieval armor—to evoke questions about how human beings continuously change their identities through science and technology.

[2] Suggesting organic development, mutability, and transformation, these cluster paintings engaged with the history of the shaped canvas as well as multiple traditions of representation and abstraction in contemporary art.

Initially, these paintings were made by collaging industrial sign-vinyl onto powder-coated aluminum rectangles, but in 2008, Fishman began screen-printing multiple layers of enamel on polished stainless steel, creating a quasi-reflective surface that incorporated both viewers and the environment.

Introducing additional trace representational elements culled from circuit diagrams, Bar and QR codes, and DNA notation, Fishman’s paintings enveloped and refracted their audiences, representing them as if on multiple screens.

[20] Dorothy Mayhall published the exhibition catalog for the show Beverly Fishman: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, shown November 4 – December 6, 1985 at the Housatonic Museum of Art.

Her studio practice includes manufacturing uniquely shaped supports and consulting with automotive paint specialists to get the background she needs to achieve industrial finishes.