Upcoming Solo Exhibition

The Watchung Arts Center is pleased to present Symphony for the Unnoticed, solo exhibition by Tatyana Kazakova, curated by PE Pinkman, on view October 3rd - October 24th, 2026.

Tatyana Kazakova’s new drawings and paintings are inspired by the plants, weeds, and small details of nature that surround us every day, but that we often walk past without noticing. “I began looking more closely at what grows in my own backyard and neighborhood. What I discovered was an unexpected world of shapes, rhythms, movement, and connections. In these works, ordinary plants become something more: a kind of visual music – a symphony for the unnoticed.”

Nature is constantly changing. Movement, overlap, and light continuously reveal new forms. For Tatyana Kazakova, this constant transformation is reminiscent of the inner world of a human being, full of chaos created by the endless flow of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. All living things are united by the same cycle: we are made of clay, and one day we return to clay.

“Light often appears in my work: light filtering through leaves, light beyond a door, light passing through a wall,” Kazakova said. “It is a symbol of longing, of hope, of reaching toward something beyond. Every work I make is a step in that direction through confusion and shadow, toward light. Art gives me that path and helps me stay alive within it.”

Kazakova’s drawings from her black-and-white series appear realistic, yet she does not literally draw them from life. She observes elements of nature, remembers their combinations, rhythms, and interactions, and then creates new compositions from them. The subjects of the drawings and paintings shown at WAC are the unnoticed and the inconspicuous – things that usually remain overlooked. She is interested in looking closely at a small detail and discovering an entire world within it. In a modest weed, she can see a monumental structure; in intertwining leaves, the complex vaults of ancient architecture. Withered flowers hold movement, a dance, or a struggle.

Plants become forms, lines, and shapes and begin to communicate with one another. This creates a counterpoint in which several independent melodies sound simultaneously, forming a unified whole. Kazakova pays close attention to details, allowing their individual melodies to emerge and ultimately form a symphony.

Kazakova usually works in series. Each individual work has its own voice, but when works from the same series are placed together, they create an additional dialogue with one another. A series allows an idea to unfold as the viewer moves from one work to another, allowing the meaning to grow. It is important to her that the works remain interesting to look at both up close and from a distance. In this process, not only does the artist become a conductor, but each viewer does as well, choosing where to direct their attention.

Tatyana Kazakova is a multidisciplinary artist with an MFA in Visual Art from the Moscow Printing Academy.  After graduation she became a regular participant in many art shows in Russia and Germany. Originally from Moscow, Russia, Tatyana moved first to Germany, then to the USA in 2000 where she worked as a full time senior graphic designer. In 2020 she transitioned to be a full-time artist. She is actively showing her work in different spaces, recently having two solo exhibitions: “In Spite of Our Fears” at the Grover House Gallery in Caldwell, NJ and “Afterland” at IMUR Gallery in Jersey City.

The Watchung Arts Center  (WAC) is a nonprofit art gallery, performance venue, and arts education center in Watchung, New Jersey, offering live music concerts, art exhibitions, and art classes in Somerset County.

Watchung Arts Center, 18 Stirling Road, Watchung, NJ 07069