asian boy with a bird mask on his head and many feathers surrounding him

artistic works

Marleen Thüringer is a contemporary artist whose work spans painting, printmaking, urban art, sculpture, and social art projects. She combines the visual aesthetics of modern realism with emotional depth. Her art is process-oriented, seeking a balance between the various forces of inner and outer reality.

For her, art is a reflection of freedom and individuality. In transcultural projects, she uses art as a tool to facilitate social interaction and collective collaboration. Through Thüringer’s work, art becomes a bridge and a bearer of hope, enabling connection—between inner experience and outer reality, and between the individual and society.

People and animals are the most frequent subjects of her work. Thüringer holds a deep admiration for the unique expression and essence of her subjects; she explores what touches us deeply. Her work is about overcoming speechlessness—achieving a wordless understanding through feeling, seeing, and instinctive grasping. The aim is not merely to present the subject to the viewer; the work seeks to reveal characteristic qualities while simultaneously leaving space for the viewer's own subjectivity.

Over the past year, the dissolution of external form and the relationship between form and surrounding space have become the dominant themes of Thüringer’s artistic studies. Here, too, the goal is to create a dialogue that interrelates the space, the object, and the viewer.

artist statement

In my artistic work, I let myself be guided by feeling and follow an instinctive inner knowledge.

What begins very freely from within eventually leads me to rational rules—the laws of anatomy—which in turn prompts an exploration of my internal balance between structure and freedom, emptiness and solidity. Here, a struggle begins—a field of tension. I seek to surrender to the state of "not knowing" until a balance of forces is achieved. I follow the structures and the internal principles of right and wrong until I sense that the work is good and feels right to me.

I try to breathe life into my objects and images by emphasizing, above all, the eyes and the posture characteristic of the subject's nature. Once that essence is captured and feels sufficiently alive, I identify the points where I can dissolve, abstract, or omit the form. This balance brings me great fulfillment and creates a space that allows for a unique, personal expression—both for myself and for the viewer's subjective perspective.

artistic offers

artworks

available on canvas, as prints and sculptures

to the artworks

workshops

theory and practice for beginners + advanced

to the workshops

murals

artworks for house walls, garage doors, and facades

to the walls

comission work

Your personal work of art. Tell me about it:

in Kontakt treten

social projects

for people on the margins of society.

to the projects

artistic work

studies about life, movement, space and object - 2026

I am currently engaged in exploring form, space, and vitality, as well as the relationship between an object and its surrounding space. In doing so, I ask how vast, diffuse, empty space enters into a dialogue with concrete, filled form.

A big cat's head made of cardboard, suspended inside a steel cube.

to latest studies

prison project 2026 - art as a resonance room

to the prison project

As artists, we move between worlds. We carry stories from one world to another. We bring color from the shadows to the surface and encourage others to look with fresh eyes. We ask questions. We follow inner paths, moving across multiple dimensions—the real world, the world of the past, the world of imagination, and the world of intuition and inner, felt perception.
From January to March 2026, I will enter the Freiburg correctional facility for this project to engage in artistic work with the inmates. I will transform the facility’s training room into an art studio. In doing so, I will explore resonance with a "world apart"—a place cut off from the outside world, yet situated right in the heart of Freiburg—where people live.

I become a bridge myself, listening with empathy and allowing myself to be touched by this world—by the questions it raises and the solutions the prisoners find for their circumstances. To this end, I allow myself to be locked inside with the prisoners. Through this initiative, I explore the potential that lies within us as human beings and within the space "in between." How does one succeed in building a bridge? What role does resonance play? What about art? The project poses the question of what is alive within a seemingly cold and rigid environment. It is about preserving one’s own identity and dignity. What answer emerges from within, in the space between "here" and "there"? How do prisoners counter a rigid system? How does one keep that vital spark alive? How does it seek to take form?

The interpretation of the space between "inside and outside"—and the potential of this "gap"—flows into the artistic process, finding expression beyond words. The project culminates in an exhibition of my artistic work, making the prisoners' creative pieces and themes visible. A mailbox is also placed in the exhibition area, allowing visitors to share their own resonance. Find out more on the project page :-)

blacklight art by Marleen Thüringer – a luminous portrait of a woman and a child wearing bird masks on their heads.

blacklight art 2025

Lightening Artworks in the black light. Exhibition of shining artworks at outdoor raves, private parties and festivals. Defenitely an eye-catcher on every party.

In the depths of the night, these figures and canvases begin to glow.
The light produced by the blacklight is fleeting and cannot be captured by a camera.
The vibrant, glaring fluorescent colors offer a counterpoint to the room and the undefined blackness of the night. They reveal nooks and crannies that previously lay in darkness. Through their dynamic movement, they invite you to pause and sense the moment. It is a search for the concrete within the abstract. Follow the trail—the glowing outline—amidst the boundless blackness of the night.

to the streetart projects

Animal soul - animal sculptures 2024/2025

In the silent encounter between human and animal, a connection arises that transcends words, born from the gentle, wild eyes. The animal is intuitive, emotional, and honest. In this encounter, we are invited to reconnect with our own instincts , to understand life with our bodies, rather than our minds.

Accepting the unpredictable can foster trust – leading to a connection between wordless worlds.
The silent presence of an animal teaches us that true understanding can occur in our interactions when everyone recognizes that what they see is only a fragment. When we connect with our own instinctual nature, we can experience how every being is part of the greater whole.

to the sculptures

ink bird as an ink drawing by Marleen Thüringer

the birds know - 2022/2023

More and more bird species are threatened with extinction.They are threatened not only by industrialized agriculture, but above all by climate change. Bird populations are currently declining. Insect and habitat availability is becoming scarcer. The increasing number of winterers and flexible species that return to their breeding grounds earlier are crowding other birds out of their territories... Even as sea levels continue to rise, the coasts will become less habitable for birds. There are fewer resting places on their journey... the birds' space is shrinking. That's why I'm currently occupied with the bird from a bird's eye view. I want to give it a space. It looks at us people questioningly. How do we answer it?

A bird. For me it is a symbol of freedom and longing. Birds live in our immediate vicinity, they sleep on our roofs, visit us at our windows and with their chirping remind us to look up at the sky more often. They are masters of navigation and storm-proof nest building. They probably arouse my wanderlust, because deep down we humans are also normads. We are not really sedentary, we are also drawn to vacation, the south, the distance.