Tatiana L. Sougakova of Plainsboro presents “Fabric of Life,” an exhibit of abstract art, at the Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury through Sunday, July 27. A reception takes place Sunday, July 6, from 1 to 3 p.m.
A classically trained abstract expressionist. Sougakova explores “how the smallest and the largest things around us intertwine in the visible and invisible worlds in the endless mechanism of creation and change. The art is greatly inspired by scientific discoveries and imagery,” she says as she gives the impression of invisible forces, energies, and laws of nature and universe all combined and intertwined on the same canvas.
“I do not paint images, I paint energy,” she says. “Colors and patterns are my ways of preserving the energy I sense while painting and of transmitting it through art to the viewers.”
Many of Sougakova’s canvases are “Flippables,” a term coined by the artist to describe work that is designed to look correct with any side up. The artist is also hoping the owner will interact with these works by changing the rotation of the paintings and discovering new visual and conceptual analogies. The discovery comes when the viewer has different reactions to the painting each time it is repositioned.
“I often paint while listening to classical music, so the brush strokes assume the rhythm and flow of the music. They happen fast and very naturally,” she says. “I almost never know what I am going to paint when I am in front of a blank canvas. The process is a bit magical, like a discovery or an exploration.”
Sougakova was born in Russia, where she lived through young adulthood. In 1984 she graduated from Restoration Arts College in St. Petersburg, Russia, with a degree in painted surface restoration. During that time she completed many community projects, including murals for a college residence hall, a mural for a community college lobby in St. Petersburg, a stained glass piece for staircase windows in a community college, and the execution of stained glass imitation design for a cafe in St. Petersburg. She also interned at State Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Upon graduating, she worked as a community center artist for two years where she developed drafts for center decorating and created advertisements for upcoming films and announcement posters.
She furthered her education with a concentration in languages, and earned a degree in linguistics with a minor in the Czech language at the University of St. Petersburg.
In 1991 she and her husband moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she became language services director for FOXX Oy USA (branch of a Finnish company). In 2000 Sougakova and her family moved to Plainsboro where she began to paint again, focusing on acrylic on canvas. Her art is decorative — it is meant to be enjoyed in the owner’s personal space — but it is also woven with many layers of contemplation and analogies by the artist.
Sougakova has participated in Plainsboro Library’s summer arts programs and fall Festival of the Arts. She has also contributed art to the Millstone River School, and volunteered her time at the West Windsor Arts Council and the Mercer College art gallery. Sougakova is busy these days while painting a life size ox sculpture for Hopewell Stampede, a juried exhibition.
Sougakova’s works have been featured in juried shows and solo shows. Owners of her art come from many different walks of life, and include a physics professor, a classical guitar musician, a jazz guitar musician, a hypnotist, a guitar maker, clergymen, teachers, and doctors — proof that her art has a wide appeal. The colorful artwork is for sale with 20 percent of each sale going to support the Cranbury Arts Council and its programs.
Art Reception, Gourgaud Gallery, 23 North Main Street, Cranbury. Sunday, July 6, 1 to 3 p.m. On view to July 27. 609-395-0900.
