Greg Streak is an interdisciplinary practitioner working in sculpture, video, installation, and documentary filmmaking. His work, known for its cool, minimalist aesthetic, focuses on formalistic concerns and the materiality of objects and spaces, both physical and psychological. Streak has a critical and eclectic eye, transforming mundane materials into complex objects that offer new value and meaning. His constructions often carry subtle political overtones and reflect his sense of displacement.
“I regard art as critical enquiry and conceptually reflective research. Growing up in post-apartheid South Africa exposed me to the dynamics of privilege and power as constructs and repressive tools. This awareness influences my practice, where visual art serves to expose hidden ideologies and offer counter-narratives, broadening discourses around social dynamics through difficult questions or subversion.”
Unlike many who specialise, Streak’s work shows a Naumanesque dexterity, unconstrained by method, material, or technique.
“His object-based work often refers to retraction and isolation, sublimating the ‘human’ aspect, while earlier video work retains human identification, suggesting the possibility of transformation.” – Kathryn Smith
Streak is the founder and coordinator of PULSE, an artist-run initiative linked to the RAIN Artists’ Initiatives Network. He organised the critically acclaimed Hiv(e) project (2004) under PULSE and won a Special Mention Jury Award at the 2006 Durban International Film Festival for his documentary, Beauty and the Beasts. He earned a practice-based PhD in Visual and Performing Arts in 2021. He lectured at the Durban University of Technology until July 2023, resigning to explore new pedagogical opportunities. He currently lives and works out of Knysna in the Western Cape (South Africa) as an independent artist and researcher.