Born in Kenya and trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, Tonio Trzebinski (1960- 2001) was initially influenced by figurative realism. Upon returning to Kenya (1988), a period of experimentation with media and techniques followed in search for his artistic identity. Trzebinski moved towards abstraction but seemed frustrated with its “limitations,” and three-dimensional elements appeared in his works, which often dealt with death and decay in nature.
In his later works, Trzebinski reached back to figurative and representational painting. He investigated the subject of the head through “re-inventing” highly expressionistic versions of the head, utilising violent and textural brushstrokes.