Dmitriy Astakhov
Dmitriy Astakhov is an artist, illustrator, filmmaker, and educator based in Southern California. Born in Russia, he immigrated to the United States at a young age. Growing up between cultural influences shaped his interest in identity, history, storytelling, and the ways people carry ideas and experiences across places and generations.
His work centers on the human figure, visual narrative, and the relationship between traditional studio practice and contemporary image-making. Rooted in drawing and painting, his practice also draws from illustration, animation, film, photography, and digital media. He is particularly interested in how gesture, anatomy, light, composition, symbolism, and environment can suggest a larger story beyond a single image. His background in filmmaking has shaped the way he approaches framing, staging, sequencing, and the relationship between figure and space.
Across both his studio work and teaching, Astakhov views traditional skills as a foundation for interpretation rather than an end in themselves. His work moves between observation and invention, with recurring interests in mythology, literature, history, popular culture, and visual storytelling. His own experience adapting to a new country also informs the way he approaches students with different backgrounds and experiences, recognizing that the perspectives they bring into the classroom can become part of their creative development.
Education
M.F.A., Art – Illustration
California State University, Fullerton, 2013
B.F.A., Art – Entertainment Art/Animation; Minor in Film
California State University, Fullerton, 2008
A.A., Fine Art
Victor Valley College, 2001
Certificate, 3-D Animation
Victor Valley College, 2002
Selected Experience
Art Instructor
Victor Valley College, 2015–Present
Instructional Technologist II, Multimedia Production & Instructional Media
California State University, San Bernardino, 2022–Present
Graphic Designer / Videographer
California State University, San Bernardino, 2020–2022
Producer / Director / Writer
Northgate Entertainment, 2016–Present
Graphic Designer / Business Owner
DS House of Art and Design, 2013–2015
Production Intern
Nickelodeon Animation Studio, 2008
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
A Splinter in the Brain
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, California, 2026
Victor Valley College Faculty Art Show
Victor Valley College, 2023
High Desert Open Arts Exhibition
Victor Valley Museum, 2022
Best in Show, Drawing
Hearsay: Artists Reveal Urban Legends
Arts District Center for the Arts, 2016
Hearsay: Artists Reveal Urban Legends
Lancaster Museum of Art, 2015
Hearsay: Artists Reveal Urban Legends
Online Exhibition, 2014
Myths and Folktales
Exit Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, 2013