Kenyan artist Stanislaw Trzebinski creates fantastical-sculptural works that explore human relationships with the natural world. Working primarily in bronze, his collectible furniture and sculpture express this intimate connection with nature, and in particular his fascination with marine life. 

Trzebinski was born in Mombasa and grew up in Nairobi, escaping the urban bustle as often as possible to explore the wilderness of the Rift Valley and the East African coast. Immersed as much in its rich cultural heritage of Arabic, African and European influences as in the beauty of its biodiversity, he learnt to speak fluent Kiswahili and track animals. As a young boy, apart from tending to his menagerie of 70 animals, he spent summers diving off the tropical waters of Africa’s East coast, famous for its mangroves, coral reefs and marine life.  

He briefly attended the Pratt Institute in New York, where he came to the realisation that his creativity was intimately connected to Africa, its nature and peoples. He moved to Cape Town in 2012 to apprentice in sculpture and bronze casting at Bronze Age Foundry under the guidance of Otto du Plessis. Trzebinski  continues to live and work in Cape Town. 

Southern Guild presented his work at the bi-annual design auction at Christie’s, London, in 2017 and at Design Miami/ in 2018. In the Absence of Light, his first solo show with Southern Guild in July 2019, saw him create an immersive collection of functional bronze sculpture inspired by his lifelong fascination with the ocean. It evoked the mystical, suspended experience of a diver beneath the waves, encountering the still and otherworldly depths teeming with life. This body of work was a continuation of the exploration of his Extra Terrestrial series from 2018.