Ana Maria Farina
Ana Maria Farina paints using a gun—a tufting gun—along with needles, hooks, and knots. Repurposing a phallic signifier of violence, she conjures vibrant objects of comfort that inhabit a mystical pictorial space between abstraction and representation. Farina was born and raised in Brazil and is now based in the Hudson Valley, New York. She attended Columbia University and SUNY New Paltz for her graduate studies, and in 2018 she was awarded a fellowship to the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Her work has been featured in many spaces throughout New York such as the SPRING/BREAK Art Fair, the Wassaic Project, the Garrison Art Center, the Dorsky Museum, Paradice Palase, Susan Eley Fine Art, among others. Farina is the 2021 recipient of the College Art Association Fellowship in Visual Arts.
Studio view
PP: Walk us through a typical day in your studio or generally through your process to make new work.
AMF: As a new mom, I don't know what typical days are anymore. I've never really been a very disciplined person, with a set routine that I follow everyday. Now my days are even more out there. I am the main caretaker of my daughter, so my days happen around what she's up to, her mood, etc. In general, I find pockets of time in which I can do something; drawing, reading, writing, creating. I follow my intuition and what I feel like doing at the time, what my mind and body are asking for.
histérica #2 (hysterical #2), upcycled fibers on monk’s cloth, 29 x 35.5 inches (73.7 x 90.2cm)
PP: What motivates you to make art?
AMF: As Bourgeois said, it's my guarantee of sanity. I am better when I am creating, no matter what.
PP: Who is a current muse for your practice? Could be anyone fictional or real, dead or alive!
AMF: My daughter Zoë. I feel like I've become a mono-themed person, and honestly I am doing so unapologetically. Motherhood has been the biggest transformation of my life and I am still discovering layers of my identity within it. And being in the US, where mothers (and women) are constantly being stripped of basic human rights only makes me want to talk about it more.
histérica #6 (hysterical #6), upcycled fibers on monk’s cloth, 25 x 33 inches (63.5 x 84cm)
PP: Do you ever work collaboratively and how so? Why or why not?
AMF: I do and I love doing it. One of the most fun projects I did was to create a fiber/textile monster for the Wassaic Project Halloween show with Hanna Washburn. I truly believe in the power of uniting different creative practices in order to create something neither person would be able to do on their own. The art world is so full of ego and "I, me, mine”, it's just wonderful to create something with shared authorship. I am always open to collaborating so if you're reading this and would like to create something together, let's talk!
recent small works