There were two gallery exhibit openings in Hudson recently, Paddy Cohn’s Clouds, From All Sides Now at the Robin Rice Gallery at 234 Warren Street, and dismantle, at Susan Eley Fine Art, 433 Warren Street, curated by Liz Lorenz and featuring artists Ana Maria Farina, Susan Lisbin, Maria Manhattan, Marianne van Lent.
Trixie’s List asked the artists (listed alphabetically) a few questions. Here are their responses:
Paddy Cohn
Q: What inspired you to create your art?
A: I’ve always been fascinated by clouds—their ever-changing forms and fleeting beauty. They feel like a playground for the imagination. You can stare at them and suddenly entire worlds emerge. What I love is how personal that experience is. You might see something completely different than I do, and that, to me, is magical. It’s a reminder that we all view the world through our own lens.
When I paint clouds, I like to push that sense of playful perception. I flip them sideways, turn them upside down, and experiment with bold, unexpected colors. I want to capture the freedom and wonder they evoke—the way they can be light and whimsical one moment, then heavy with mystery the next. It’s about keeping that sense of awe alive, no matter how many times you look up.
Q: What is your process?
A: My process starts with color—bold, saturated hues that immediately set the emotional tone of the piece. I often choose unexpected, playful colors like hot pink, electric blue, or rich orange to create a sense of contrast and energy. The background is where I establish the mood, almost like a sky with its own personality. Once the background is dry, I begin painting the cloud using oil paint, which allows me to build rich, velvety layers.
I intentionally keep the clouds simple and almost whimsical. By isolating them against the vivid background, they become dreamlike and symbolic inviting the viewer to project their own meaning onto them. The whole process is very intuitive and playful, allowing the clouds to float freely across a canvas of color and imagination.
Q: What brings you to Hudson?
A: Hudson is an ideal place for me as an artist. The natural beauty—the shifting light, open skies, and changing seasons—keeps me inspired. It’s a place where creativity feels natural. The community here is also incredibly supportive. There’s a strong artistic presence and cultural richness that makes it easy to stay connected and motivated. It’s a place that gives me the space and energy I need to create.
Ana Maria Farina
Q: What inspired you to create your art?
A: As Louise Bourgeois once said, “creating is a guarantee of sanity for me. I just have to.” For the series “histérica,” my inspiration comes mostly from my research interests that can go from psychoanalysis to color to the history of women’s labor. Also, of course, my personal experiences as a woman and a mother.
Q: What is your process?
A: It depends. My tiles are visual thoughts; the imagery comes from shapes, forms, textures and colors that I find around me, or just curiosities about how things could interact with each other. My larger pieces usually start with a process similar to automatic drawing, I don’t sketch, just pick colors that are speaking to me at the moment and work straight with the tufting gun. Then I incorporate other elements as the piece speaks to me.
Q: What brings you to Hudson?
A: I often visit the area, I love it here and have friends nearby. I am attracted by the vintage shops, and the great art and food that I find.
Susan Lisbin
Q: What inspired you to create your art?
A: Lips are so sensuous. Placing more than one near each other creates a lively conversation. I wanted to zoom in on this particular body part by imagining interactions between seemingly isolated figures—perhaps creating community in cacophony.
Q: What is your process?
A: Each lip is individually sculpted with clay. The clay is fired, then underglaze and or glaze is applied, and the piece is fired again.
Q: What brings you to Hudson?
A: I have been living in the area for about 10 years and love it here. I also work at the artist space Foreland where I have my kiln and have my additional studio in Catskill, NY.
Maria Manhattan
Q: What inspired you to create your art?
A: Three years ago I took a course with the artist Christina Cordova, and learned a hand building method for making figurative sculpture that unlocked a door for me. I’ve always loved the ceramic Renaissance busts you see in museums like The Cloisters, or the Frick. I began thinking about an homage to the strength and resilience of women under siege. At some point I thought they needed halos, or crowns. That’s when I found a use for my collection of broken china that I insert into the porcelain figures to make these goddesses.
Q: What is your process?
A: I’m in my studio here in Hudson almost every day. Sometimes you just sweep the floor or do a puzzle while an idea is fermenting. But being in that separate space means I’m at work.
Q: What brings you to Hudson?
I grew up and lived most of my life in NYC and moved here 17 years ago, at a time when the artist community in the city was dissipating. Coming here has given me the sense of community that I was looking for.
Marianne van Lent
Q: What inspired you to create your art?
A: My mixed media paintings from the “Biological Anthropology” series meld cellular forms, organic shapes and ancient mythology to craft abstracted stories about our contemporary bodies. Archetypal icons merge with elements of the body and earth’s ecology to form a particular narrative with overtones of the collective unconscious and ancient civilizations.
Q: What is your process?
A: The assemblage style paintings incorporate hand-cut stencils, pencil and pen drawings, fresco secco and dispersed pigment in polymer on canvas or panel. In addition to the completed artworks, visitors to SEFA Hudson can see my stencils and source materials such as maps, stamps, tracings and outlines which weave their way into my compositions.
Q: What brings you to Hudson?
A: I currently live and work in Athens, NY with my partner who is an architect. We share a beautiful space that transcends life and art, home and studio. I have previously exhibited with SEFA in a group exhibition and love to engage with the vibrant Upstate art world.
