An enthusiast drawer from an early age, Frieda Hunziker chose to train at the Industrieschool voor de vrouwelijke jeugd [Vocational School for Female Youth] in Amsterdam, where she learned pattern and fashion drawing. In 1924, she thenentered the Rijksinstituut voor Teekenleraren [National Institute for Drawing Teachers], also in Amsterdam, where she obtained her drawing certificate for vocational education in 1929. From 1930, she worked as an art teacher in several Dutch schools. After the birth of her son in 1937, F. Hunziker started painting, and this became her main artistic medium.

In 1941, F. Hunziker participated in her first public exhibition at Galerie Robert in Amsterdam, together with other members of the artists’ association De Onafhankelijken [The Independents]. The second exhibition of her work was held after World War II within the group show Kunst in Vrijheid [Art in Freedom] at the Rijksmuseum. Between 1946 and 1951, F. Hunziker’s painting evolved from being related to Cubism to Geometric abstraction. Together with artists Willy Boers (1905–1978), Willem Hussem (1900–1974), Piet Ouborg (1893–1956) and others, she co-founded the group Vrije Beelden [Free Imagery] in 1947. F. Hunziker devoted herself to improving the public’s understanding of abstract and experimental art and subsequently became a tour guide at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

In 1949, the Stedelijk Museum selected F. Hunziker to participate in the exhibition Vogelvlucht [Bird’s Eye View], organised in collaboration with KLM Airlines. For inspiration, the artists were invited on sightseeing flights over the Netherlands. F. Hunziker’s participation earned her an airline ticket to Curaçao, a destination she chose. In winter1951/1952, she spent six weeks on the island, lodging at the Curaçao Museum. Her stay in what was then still a Dutch colony had a lasting influence on her work.

F. Hunziker was introduced to the artistic and cultural scene in Curaçao by the president of the Curaçao Museum and the local artist couple, Chris Engels (1907–1980) and Lucila Engels-Boskaljon (1920–1993). Creating sketches, drawings and watercolours every day, F. Hunziker found inspiration in Caribbean motifs, the colours, warmth and nature of the island. Her style evolved once again and became inclined towards the figurative. In 1951, C. and L. Engels commissioned her to create a mural and a stained-glass window for their house, Stroomzigt. The stained-glass window, made of three parts connecting diagonally, shows cottages in a landscape with cacti caught in the sun’s scorching heat. Before F. Hunziker’s departure from the island, the Curaçao Museum hosted an exhibition of the work made during her stay, complemented by paintings she had brought from the Netherlands, which garnered mixed reactions from the visitors. In 1952, F. Hunziker’s Curaçao-inspired works were exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum, alongside works by other artists sent on a trip by KLM Airlines. Subsequently, her work was included in Curaçao Schilderend en Geschilderd [Curaçao Painting and Painted] at the Stedelijk Museum in 1953, organised by Antillean students in the Netherlands.

After F. Hunziker’s death in 1966, tribute exhibitions were held in the Netherlands, including the major retrospective Frieda Hunziker. A flight to Curaçao at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam in 2023, focusing on her stay on the island.