About
Alissa Kim Tjen is a contemporary landscape painter based in North Vancouver, Canada. Her work explores light, water, and atmosphere through semi-abstract compositions shaped by memory and perception.
She studied Graphic Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada, and received her Bachelor of Design from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver in 2007. She is the recipient of the Hunter’s Award from the Ontario College of Art and Design.
"The canvas, for me, becomes a surface of water. Each mark, gesture, and layer acts like a ripple or a reflection, revealing fragments of memory, emotion, and inner landscape. Rather than depicting a specific place, I allow forms to emerge intuitively, as if they are surfacing from beneath. Inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s writing in Water and Dreams, I see water not as a passive mirror, but as an active presence—one that transforms what it reflects. In this way, painting becomes a process of both seeing and being seen. My work invites a moment of stillness, where the boundary between outer landscape and inner world dissolves. What appears on the canvas is not a fixed image, but a quiet dialogue—between surface and depth, presence and memory."
Her works are held in private collections across 12 countries—including Italy, the United States, Korea, Sweden, and Switzerland—and in over 53 cities worldwide. Her work is also included in corporate collections such as Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, Canada, and the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in New York, USA.
Her work has been featured in international hospitality projects in the United States and Greece and on Samsung Frame TV, LG Gallery TV+, President’s Choice, and Marcon Development.