CYRUS KABIRU “THE C-STUNNERS” COLLECTION

This is only the second time we have got involved in eyewear which is not from a bye gone era. We first saw Cyrus’ work at the framed exhibition in London and was completely blown away by it and his story.

So we were off course delighted when we were approached by Ed Cross and Emma Cavendish, who look after Cyrus’ work, if we would like to stock some of his pieces.

Recently appointed fellow of TEDGlobal 2012, Cyrus Kabiru is a self-taught painter and sculpture living and working in Nairobi, Kenya. His paintings show life in Nairobi with wit and charm as he depicts figures with bulging eyes satirising the everyday experiences of an important African capital city. Working with found objects his sculpture is built on the notion of, in Kabiru’s own words, ‘giving trash a second chance.’ Weaving together materials such as bottle tops, shoe polish tins, wire and cutlery he is most well-known for his series of wearable eyewear sculpture, C-STUNNERS.

C-STUNNERS are a series of wearable eyewear sculpture which sit on the boundary between art, performance, fashion and design. Innovative pieces of art, each telling their own story and made from working with found objects from the artist’s immediate environment his work is inspired by the childhood memories of growing up in an area of Nairobi surrounded by rubbish. Kabiru is pioneering a new form of artwork for a generation of artists living and working in Kenya.

Fundamental to Kabiru’s work is a commitment to working with nature and with different communities in Kenya. Kabiru’s initiative, Outreach, run solely by Kabiru works to engage with rural communities in Kenya teaching people how to work with the environment and waste found in the surrounding areas through workshops. Recently Kabiru worked with Kamba carvers, who mass produce wooden sculpture, largely for a tourist market, teaching them how to use other materials to avoid the continuing cutting of trees which has created adverse conditions for rainfall in the region.

Kabiru’s work has been exhibited in Africa and Europe most recently at the London College of Fashion.

Artist Statement from Cyrus Kabiru:

I call them the C-STUNNERS©. The original idea was inspired by memories of my father’s
childhood where he dropped his glasses by accident and a lorry which by chance happened to be fatefully passing by ran over them, shattering them completely. It goes without saying that he received a very thorough beating from my grandfather. From that day on my father hated glasses.

I admired sun-glasses though, but wearing them was an impossibility because of my father’s attitude towards them and I thus decided that when I grew up I would pick up from where the lorry left off.

Many of my friends despised me as I continued nurturing that dream, along with the additional name calling while being told that it was all nonsense. The argument was that it was a strange way of art.What they never knew was that this was my dream and I had made it my hobby as well.

Now all grown up this dream has come to pass and now I have my own eyewear line which I call THE C- STUNNERS. I have realized the dream and as my grandfather once said “When you truly dream a dream of your lifetime, never go back to sleep” and I, well, I am neither relenting nor dozing back to sleep.

C-Stunners have rocked the regional media and more so the tastes and imagination of art lovers with local television stations having interviews and discussions about them. The press have had columns and pages dedicated to them. My dream is to make them the classic choice of even aliens, who are beyond the international levels. I have been arrested once for almost 8 hours because of wearing them. For now, the sky is the limit.

For more information and prices on Cyrus’ work please contact the store or visit us to see a small installation of some of his frames.