Suzy Forel, artist, Berlin. From the past to the past and this is the future.
Suzy Forel, artist from Berlin. Her collages circle one question: where does your time go?
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Theater des Westens We are travellers in time.
Behind us the past.
Ahead of us the future.
And the now?
How do you spend your time?
Small figures a big task
I invented little figures, my time travellers. They have no names and no faces. But when something in a picture tips over, they are there.
They take time from where it is carelessly spent and carry it back to where something good can grow.
Every picture holds a date, a clock, sometimes a UFO. That is how they travel through my Berlin, asking quietly: where does your time go?
I never could do otherwise
I have made art my whole life, I think I was born this way. As a kid I painted the walls until my father got upset. Then my shoes, my clothes, whole rooms. I always had to make it my own.
At some point a thought would not let go of me: we are always stuck in yesterday or tomorrow. Most people no longer live the now at all. Maybe time is only an illusion anyway, a bubble we sit in without noticing.
Since then I paint to wake people up. I invented little time travellers who take time from where it is wasted and carry it to where something good can grow. Every picture holds a date, a clock, sometimes a UFO. Lately I tear the paper with my hands alone, no scissors, often from the boxes of my own shoes.
Whoever takes home a picture of mine takes home a question: how do you spend your time?
“Life is like a game, and I like to play.”More about Suzy
As featured in
Theater des WestensMindshift Festival Selected works
Feel first then understand
Look for the figure. The clock. The date. The UFO. The sentence hanging somewhere in the image.
At some point you notice: the work has already started talking to you.
See all worksWhat it is about
The images look back
We only ever think: how was it, how should it be? Most people no longer live the now. Maybe we sit in a bubble and do not notice. My pictures are the question, not the answer.
“The pictures should make you pause. Make you uncomfortable. Remind you.”
How do you spend your time?
Wir sind am Leben
For the musical “Wir sind am Leben” by Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer at Theater des Westens, I made handmade one-of-a-kind sweaters.
Each sweater was knitted, painted and signed by hand. Not an off-the-rack costume. A wearable picture.
“Each one unique, in all its colours and facets.”Watch on Instagram ↗
Bunker West
Berlin · 2024 · Group show
Between concrete, music and people, my Time Travellers became part of a larger room. That is where they work: not only on the wall, but in the middle of what is happening.
Exhibitions
A selection of places where my works have been shown.
My works hang in private collections in Berlin and beyond. The Frankfurt Opera bought one of my one-of-a-kind sweaters. And people stop in front of the pieces, which means more to me than any sale.
- 2026
Mindshift Festival, The Space (Ku'damm)
Berlin Group - 2024
La Vucciria
Palermo Solo - 2024
Bunker West
Berlin Group - 2023
Swiss Art Expo
Zürich Group - 2023
Kunstverein Worms
Worms Group - 2023
Ku'damm
Berlin Solo - 2021
Hamburg Art Fair
Hamburg Group - 2021
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe Group
Come into my worlds
A picture that will not let you go? Write to me. I love to wander my worlds with you, about time, about pictures, about everything.
Just tell me which piece is looking at you. A few lines are enough.
Berlin · Usually replies within 48 hours.