Un certain regard, 2026 Created at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, France for the Fulbright France Mid-Year Meeting at the George Marshall Center - Hôtel de Talleyrand in Paris, France.

Un certain regard investigates the ghosts that become embodied within the present moment. The works integrated throughout the rooms reflect on the passage of time and the necessity of understanding how each moment accumulates. Even when individual moments slip from view, they remain essential. Time is not erased but layered, its presence felt through accretion rather than visibility. Yet, a look through the window is an attestation of such gradual transformation, in preparation for the next glance.

The glass block sliding puzzle comprises three photos of the Place de la Concorde– one from the early 20th century, a screenshot from Google Maps dated 2019, and one from the present day. These similar shots will never align perfectly, rendering the puzzle unsolvable. Each intervention from the viewer creates a new image. Similarly, our versions of the past, present, and future rarely coincide. They are continually shifting and reforming.

The fractured glass engraving imagines the fountain designed by Guillaume Coustou for Louis III Phélypeaux– a fountain lost to the later construction of the Rue de Rivoli– while other engravings offer views of various windows in Paris.

Wooden panels evoke parquet floors, emblematic of French royal interiors. The mounted images depict details of the Hôtel de Talleyrand woven together with another façade in Paris, combining the seemingly disparate aspects of the city to form a continuity of various realities and histories existing simultaneously. Are memories not abstractions and fragments of our past through the lens of the present ?

eversincethen, 2025 Created + presented at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, France

In eversincethen, digital elements have been introduced to create a starker contrast between the natural graphite medium and subject with modern construction. The graphite drawing reveals the delicate patterns that rainwater creates in the sand and earth, forming feathery structures. It rests on the ground, inside a backlit box, usually used for advertising, allowing the graphite lines to glow with a diaphanous light. Behind it, an eight-second video shows a construction site pouring gravel for a riverside structure, projected onto the wall. Drawing and video enter into a silent dialogue. One evokes the natural association of water with peace and serenity, the other recalls the implicit violence of the commodification of nature. The work seeks to establish a balance, taking into account both human and non-human needs, and to reflect on how our knowledge can be used for the common good.

Go I know not where, 2024
Joan Mitchell Center +
Good Children Gallery 

A series of work begun in residence at the Joan Mitchell Center in 2024, Go I know not where is inspired by the Slavic folkloreism and social geology. The title comes from the story Go I Know Not Where, Bring Back I Know Not What, which tells a royal huntsman whose spared bird-wife helps him through perilous trials. Barbara Henry’s analysis highlights how this tale reflects the transition from magical to practical elements due to industrialization and environmental change. Reflecting this theme, the show explores water’s dual role as both generative and destructive in Southern Louisiana. It features drawings of local waterways, cyanotypes of personal symbols like hair and palm fronds, paper made of algae, and historical references such as Soviet-era exile measures. The work further delves into Slavic folklore with the deity Mokosh, using embroidery patterns to connect with cultural and ecological narratives and the interplay between memory, environment, and tradition. This work was shown at Good Children Gallery in New Orleans in 2024.

Good Children Gallery
Setpember 14 - October 6, 2024 

Installation shots from solo show, Go I know not where, at Good Children Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana

Stolovaya
September 28, 2024
Photography by Victoria Gudino & Irma Nikolayeva

In the frame of the exhibition, Katya Vaz and Katya Simkhovich (founder of Dom Zakuski) organized a multi-course dinner and discussion surrounding Louisiana and Eastern European cuisine, how food and tradition are influenced by geographical location and culture, and finally how to connect with a culture outside of its original context, bringing together 23 people. The dinner was accompanied by a small book that describes both the dinner and significance of the exhibition in further detail, as well as letterpressed menus, both designed and produced by Katya Vaz.

The name, Stolovaya, comes from a type of casual dining establishment commonly found in Russia and other former Soviet countries. Often compared to a cafeteria, it offers a variety of affordable, home-style dishes in a straight forward setting. Customers typically select their meals from a counter, where they can choose from options like soups, stews, and salads. Stolovayas are known for their communal atmosphere and are popular for their hearty, traditional offerings.

Research and development of Go I know not where during the Joan Mitchell Center residency in 2024.

pyaterochka, 2019

This painting, featuring a display of sausage in a typical Russian corner store like Pyaterochka, delves into the concept of commonality and familiarity within a specific cultural context. By focusing on this everyday scene, the work explores how certain items and practices become symbols of shared experience and identity among those within the group, while remaining largely unnoticed or even unfamiliar to outsiders. Through this depiction, the painting invites viewers to consider how ordinary objects can serve as markers of cultural belonging and highlight the nuanced boundaries that define inclusivity and exclusivity in everyday life.

Split graphite drawing. On the left is a cafe with plastered walls and a lace table cloth in Suzdal, Russia. On the right is a tire shop in New Orleans with stacks of tires and a chicken sitting atop one of them. The drawing explores merging dualities. The line where opposing identities meet.