FICHTRE - A multidisciplinary artist

Mathias Forbach, born in Vevey in 1983, is an illustrator and media designer with a passion for images, reading, and music. He lives and works between Basel and French-speaking Switzerland.

As a teenager, he became Fichtre! when he had to come up with an alter ego to sign his graffitis. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne in 2005, he co-founded the STADIO art space in Vevey in 2014. Then, in 2015, he earned his WorkMaster degree from the Geneva University of Art and Design, where his drawings evolved and transformed, blending with words.

His rich universe draws inspiration from everyday themes that resonate with him, ranging from metaphysical and surrealist subjects to space, time, and always emotions. Anthropomorphic characters, pop or pastel colors, graphic overlays, patterns reminiscent of traditional printing techniques, and geometric and symbolic forms characteristic of the fundamentals of illustration are employed, forming a personal graphic language that is constantly evolving and developing.

At the same time, he has been passionate about sharing his knowledge through teaching at ÉDHÉA for the past 13 years. These exchanges fuel his practice just as much as his travels, during which he never parts with his sketchbooks. The magic of paper is also reflected in his love of books.

Although paper remains his medium of choice, he experiments on other surfaces: everything from restaurant tablecloths to sneakers for the Camper or On brands, canvases, airplanes for Swiss, wine bottles, walls, vinyl records, and a car, among other things.

Through his aesthetic and technical explorations, he has created unique illustrations for commercial commissions as well as personal and collaborative projects, always with the aim of composing in response to the emotions of the moment and the desire to question his relationship to drawing and art.