LANA TRZEBINSKI

I was born in Mombasa, Kenya in 1993. I grew up in a family of sculptors, designers, painters, architects, interior designers, filmmakers and writers. Being part of so much creativity gave me the confidence to experiment with different mediums and allowed me to express myself through my creativity. Apart from ceramics and designing I create collages, paint, and arrange flowers for weddings.

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When I finished school I decided to head to Bali, Indonesia where I created my first clothing collection. Soon after, I began designing garments in West African fabric made in Kenya along with recycled brass jewellery. I then decided to work for my mother, Anna Trzebinski, who has a luxury lifestyle brand based in Kenya where I learned a lot about the business and continued designing jewellery in Cow horn and recycled brass on the side. A few years later I decided to focus my attention fully on my own brand, which has lead me to creating works in ceramics as well as beaded garments and accessories, and brass and horn jewellery. I work with various skilled Kenyan artisans to create my vision. My designs are all hand embellished and drawn on by me. I sculpt my ceramic works using Kenyan clay, the texture is created by hand and I make my own glazes so they are unique to my work. Each piece is one of a kind.

 

I have always found it difficult to explain why I make what I make purely because my process does not start with a pencil or pen sketching ideas it seems to happen in the moment. What I can say is: my work has a lot of detail, which mirror some form found in nature, where I have always found my inspiration. I am a perfectionist and I am heavily critical of my life and my work and suffer self-doubt. In creating it forces me to experience a range of emotions; rage, joy, frustration, boredom… But this always ends is a sense of accomplishment. With each piece I complete I prove to myself that I am good at what I do and that I am doing what I am supposed to do. When I was eight I lost my father in a very tragic way this left me many Traumas. My work is a way that I can disconnect and I have found it to help me heal my wounds and deal with life’s challenges. 

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My inspiration from nature comes from being brought up in Kenya and having parents that made our childhood magic. Almost every weekend we were tossed in the back of the car off to some remote spot either in the middle of the bush or somewhere along the Kenyan coast. My childhood is filled with many happy memories spending hours on the ocean, fishing, surfing, snorkelling and playing on beaches or sleeping under mosquito nets under a blanket of stars.