Roosevelt Island Artists in Hell’s Kitchen
Thursday, October 30th from 6 to 9 pm: Reception for the Artists. Exhibition runs from October 26th to November 3rd, 2025
Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday 10 to 5 pm. Saturday 12 to 4 pm
Artists Exhibiting: Thom Heyer, Laura Hussey, Toshiko Kitano Groner, Snigdha Kumar, Katerina Kyselica, Saundra Lamb, Piaskowski, Ioan Popiou, Georgette Sinclair, Taiisia Visnitskaya, Chris Vail and Tony Vita
Twelve artists from Roosevelt Island, present works in a variety of media. Coming from across the globe each artist brings an unique perspective to the creative process.
Esther Piaskowski Cohen, an artist born in Australia, began as a painter. Today her main form of expression is photography. In her work Piaskowski tackles a wide range of subjects from nature to still life to people and the photographs from her extensive travels often make their way into the exhibitions she is a participates in.
Thom Heyer is an artist and costume designer who has made his home on Roosevelt Island with his husband since 2017. His mixed media work is an homage to religious decorative arts through an American popular culture lens.
Laura Hussey is a native New Yorker who spent many years working and living in Greece. To this day the influence of the Greek landscape, art and mythology are evident in her paintings and drawings
Toshiko Kitano Groner emigrated from Japan and spent her younger years singing in
downtown clubs before switching to Visual Arts. Over time her painting has developed into
a synthesis of Japanese spirit and western style.
Snigdha Kumar is an artist, printmaker, and graphic designer originally from India. She studied Printmaking in India and the Netherlands, followed by specialized studies in graphic design at the Pratt Institute in New York City. Her artwork is characterized by a fluid, multi-disciplinary approach, utilizing techniques ranging from traditional printmaking and painting to modern digital art.
Katerina Kyselica is a Czech-American visual artist, designer, and curator, working in drawing, printmaking, book arts, mixed media, and painting. In her work, she looks inward to explore established roles and expectations, creating imagery that invites viewers to intimate and poetic encounters.
Saundra Lamb is mainly drawn to landscape as her subject of choice. She identifies strongly with trees and nature attributing almost human qualities to them as she ponders life on earth but also our place in the universe.
Ioan Popoiu, a Romanian-American artist exhibits abstract paintings that are heavily influenced by his years of experience working as a textile artist in Romania and the US.
Georgette Sinclair is a Romanian born artist exploring light and color through the medium of pastels. Her luminous creations, mainly landscapes, are inspired by the eternal beauty of nature . Working mostly in pastels she finds poetry in ordinary scenes by capturing the mood of the moment and seizing it forever.
Chris Vail is a photographer whose career spans several decades of photojournalism and documentary work. His current subjects are of his own choosing and focus on a sense of place. His most recent one person exhibition provided a unique perspective on the architecture of Roosevelt Island.
Taiisia Visnitskaya’s subject of choice is wildlife.
Taiisia is a new arrival to the US from Russia. Her paintings are small portraits of animals, birds and fowl done with highlights of gold paint on black backgrounds
Tony Vita is a former graphic artist from New York City creating bold works involving many aspects of multi-media including motion and sound.
While these artists are from vastly different backgrounds they form a cohesive community and they are all members of the art gallery on Roosevelt Island, RIVAA Gallery.
