MARLEEN SUVI (B. 1998) IS A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST WHOSE WORK DELVES DEEPLY INTO PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY. SHE EARNED HER MA IN CONTEMPORARY ART (2023) AND HER BA IN PAINTING (2020) FROM THE ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS. SUVI’S ART EXPLORES THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BODY AND THE HUMAN SOUL, OFTEN THROUGH SELF-PORTRAITS THAT QUESTION THE NATURE OF SELF-ENCOUNTER, SELFISHNESS, AND SELF-DEPICTION IN A SEXUAL CONTEXT.
DRAWING FROM PERSONAL PHOTO ARCHIVES, SUVI’S WORK CONTRASTS THE SECURITY OFFERED BY FAMILY WITH THE FREEDOM AND INEVITABLE SELF-GIVING OF INDEPENDENT LIFE. HER PAINTINGS, WHILE ROOTED IN PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGERY, ARE EXECUTED IN OIL ON CANVAS TO AMPLIFY AND DISTILL PERSONAL EXPERIENCES INTO UNIVERSAL HUMAN EMOTIONS. THIS APPROACH AIMS TO HIGHLIGHT THE TIMELESS DEPTH OF HER SUBJECTS, EMPHASISING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MOMENTS CAPTURED AND TRANSFORMING THEM INTO BROADER HUMAN EXPERIENCES.
MARLEEN SUVI’S RECENT EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE ‘‘we’ve never lived in a house’’ (eka GALLERY, 2024, CURATED BY aleksander metsamärt) AND ‘‘forever in bloom’’ (vaal GALLERY, 2024, CURATED BY KAISA MAASIK). SHE WAS ALSO ONE OF THE WINNERS OF THE HELJU ROSSMANN SCHNEIDER SCHOLARSHIP.