TRAVELLING IMAGES VOL. 2: 2001–2023

As expected, Külli Suitso draws us into a world rich in color and emotion, where oil-painted poppies, oyster pearls, sunflower seeds, natural landscapes and atmospheres, and theatrical human figures reflect the artist’s inner states, experiences, and contemplations on what it means to be human. Having worked for many years in Denmark, the artist now opens the door for her home audience to explore the different stages of her creative journey. The exhibition at Haus Gallery brings together three significant periods: abstract landscapes of emotion and memory, cardboard-box interiors layered with intimacy and existential depth, and the poetic, life-affirming Secret Garden series.

The exhibition Travelling Images Vol. 2: 2001–2023 reflects Külli Suitso’s journey through time and builds a bridge between her first solo exhibition (Travelling Images, held at the age of 19 in Tartu’s Sebra Gallery) and her current creative period. It marks both a look back and a step forward: a continuous process of growth as an artist, and an ongoing rediscovery of self and art through ever-shifting perspectives.

"The idea for this exhibition was born from a desire to create a deeper connection with the Estonian art scene. I have lived and worked outside of Estonia for a long time, although I have occasionally participated in exhibitions here. I felt it was time to present my work to my home audience in a more comprehensive way.” In these words, Külli Suitso reflects on the inspiration behind her exhibition.

Suitso’s work primarily explores inner states, perceptions, and the experience of the body. Her art investigates self-awareness, human relationship with the surrounding environment, and a philosophical inquiry into life itself – expressed in a visually compelling form. This retrospective exhibition reveals how people interpret the world around them and how they perceive their relationship with their surroundings. The artworks highlight the ways in which the inner and outer worlds intertwine, and how the boundaries between them can even dissolve. Sometimes, the most ordinary objects – like a cardboard box or a plant seed – carry an entire world within. Giving those objects symbolic meaning and depicting them in art opens up possibilities for reflecting on the human experience, the condition of being alive, and the broader nature of life – from mundane materiality to the inner world perceived through the body and senses.

The exhibition features the artist’s key creative periods: her early abstract paintings, the cardboard box series, and works from the series titled Secret Garden.

The abstract period marks the first mature phase of Suitso’s artistic journey, during which she sought connection with deeper internal states and universal forces of nature through painting. In this phase, nature plays a central role as a metaphorical space – where drought, rain, wind, and spaciousness reflect the artist’s introspection. Her work from this time shows the influence of early 20th-century Expressionism, where personal experiences are symbolically depicted – often through the forces of nature. Expressionism also emphasizes emotional self-expression through color, which for Suitso, too, is not merely a tool for depiction, but a carrier of meaning in itself – a symbol of psychological states or emotions. As in (Abstract) Expressionism, her paintings do not aim for a visual likeness of reality, the world, or depicted objects, but instead convey emotional and sensory experiences through color, texture, and movement. Many of the works are composed in horizontally layered structures, reminiscent of landscapes or atmospheres, yet lacking distinct features – as if reflecting a memory or feeling through layers of paint. These abstract works laid the foundation for Suitso’s poetic visual language and paved the way for later series with narrative elements.

In the Cardboard Box series, Suitso explores spatial and perceptual layers of reality, illusion, and perspective. These works pose questions: Can we see the moments of our lives in a broader context, or do we remain trapped "inside our box," unaware of its smallness? What lies inside these painted boxes – stories, memories, roles, protective shells? The paintings depict people or interiors staged within cardboard boxes. At first glance, they may seem like intimate, closed-off worlds, in which the figure is entirely absorbed in their experience. Yet when the viewer’s perspective shifts – when one steps back – it becomes clear that the entire painted world is a small staged scene inside a box. Each painting is a glimpse into a person’s inner world – simultaneously hidden and vulnerably exposed. Suitso uses her signature vivid and expressive colors, sharp contrasts, and carefully placed light sources to enhance the psychological intensity and theatricality of these works.

The Secret Garden series focuses on the potential, sensitivity, and metamorphosis of life. This potential is expressed strikingly in the way Suitso depicts not blooming plants, flowers, or fruits – but instead creates compositions centered on oversized plant seeds. There is also a sensual portrait of oyster, where the pearl symbolizes the transformation of a disturbing experience into something beautiful. These are all symbolic forms that carry within them a quiet yet immense force of life and nature. The artist has said she is fascinated by the silent wisdom of a seed: how such a tiny element knows exactly what it will become and when the time is right to open up and grow. And sometimes it grows even when conditions are far from ideal – that is the strength and vulnerability of life at once.

Secret Garden is a tribute to life’s sensitivity and resilience – to an inner wisdom that requires no noise. It works in hiding, quietly, deep within the soil – just like a seed. Secret Garden speaks a deeply personal language, yet touches on universal themes: growth, vulnerability, beauty, and how life always finds a way to emerge – sometimes in the most unexpected forms.

Külli Suitso (b. 1974) studied art with a focus on painting at the University of Tartu from 1992 to 1998. She has participated in art exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad since 1993. Suitso has also worked as a lecturer at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. She currently lives and works as a freelance artist in Denmark and teaches painting at the Aarhus Art Academy.

Text: Artist Külli Suitso, Haus Gallery’s art historian Lola Annabel Kass