Artist Kirk Yastreb (b. 1979) lives and works in St. Petersburg. In 2008, she graduated from the Department of Restoration of the St. Petersburg State University of Art and Industry named after. A. L. Stieglitz. In her artistic practice, she uses traditional techniques, creates paintings and graphic works, and rarely turns to photography.
The works of K. Yastreb were exhibited at the Anna Akhmatova Museum (group exhibition “Idols”, 2015), the Artmuza gallery (personal exhibition “Music and Time”, 2016), and the creative center “Wind of Change” (2018). Some of the artist’s works are in domestic and foreign private collections.
Kirk Hawk is not a member of creative associations and does not recognize membership in a specific art movement. However, the influence of modernism is noticeable in her works. Avoiding radical experiments, the artist in his creative practice turns to the achievements of various trends, directions and styles, achieving their joint harmonious sound. According to K. Yastreb, for her, what matters most is the content of the work, and the choice of specific means of expression follows from it.
The theme of music and theater occupies an important place in the work of K. Yastreb (“Transcription”, 2010, “Musicians”, 2018). There is no portrait specificity in the images of the performers. Through these images, the artist rather expresses the music itself, its mood. Depriving the viewer of the opportunity to see insignificant details, it shortens the distance between the musician and the viewer, immersing us in a special space filled with one sound. Expressive broad strokes only indicate the most important thing, emphasizing the dynamics of the music and the movements of the musicians.
The artist’s graphics are not inferior to painting in their merits. Works made with acrylic are also distinguished by their expressive manner and some carelessness. Silhouettes appear on deep black backgrounds, leaving a feeling of twilight and understatement (“Trumpeter”, 2018).
In his liner drawings, Kirk Hawk, on the contrary, subordinates the composition to a clear graphic principle (“Church in Koenigsberg”, 2019). Here the artist often refers to the image of the city. It works on the juxtaposition of patches of tone and subtle graphics. Due to this, she manages to create laconic, expressive compositions. This effect is also emphasized by the recognizable frames with which K. Yastreb often frames his drawings.
Despite his fully formed author's style, the artist continues to experiment with new media. Thus, in “Portrait of an Art Critic” (2022), the QR code becomes the main semantic center of the composition.
Kirk Hawk embodies in his works a subtle attitude, a lyrical reflection of reality. The impression of instability and unreality of space lifts the viewer above the plot level of perception and turns to complex, metaphysical things.
Elizaveta Andreeva, October 2022
