Rasto Cyprian: Ephemerals: Circle Art Gallery Two

This is Circle's first solo exhibition for Rasto Cyprian, a Nairobi-based mixed media artist whose practice explores process, material experimentation, and the atmosphere of everyday life.

Born in Busia and raised in Kibera, Nairobi, Cyprian's work is deeply shaped by observation; of landscapes, objects, architecture, music, literature, and the changing environments around him. Reeds growing near the river where he spent time as a child have become a recurring visual motif, alongside references drawn from craft traditions, domestic spaces, fashion, design, and classical painting. He is particularly interested in how details, textures, and patterns come together to create mood and atmosphere.

Cyprian is a graduate from Presbyterian University of East Africa where he studied Education Arts with a major in English and Literature. Solo exhibitions include Flowers, Sun and Rain, Oneoff Contemporary Gallery, Nairobi (2024); Liminal Spaces, Unseen Nairobi (2020). Group exhibitions include Held High - Held Back, House of Friends, Kibera (2026); The Middle Ground, Kofisi Art, Nairobi (2025), African Identities, AKKA Project Venice, Italy (2022), Shifting Tides, Kobo Trust, Nairobi (2022); Unbound, Village Market, Nairobi (2022); Art fairs include ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair with ArtCN Gallery, Shanghai (2023); WopArt 2022 with AKKA Project (2022).Prizes include the Mask Art Prize in the Promising Artists under 25 in Kenya category (2017). Publications include the 2022 edition of the GIDA Journal.