About the Artist:
Alissa Whalen was born in Toronto, Ontario, but now lives and works in Halifax. Between 1983 and 1991, she studied pottery, wheel throwing and hand-building, then in 1998, she began selling a variety of functional tableware, garden and wall art. Alissa participated in numerous outdoor and indoor art shows and displayed her work on artist studio tours and in co-op art galleries in Southern Ontario until 2013. Alissa transitioned to working with acrylic paint in 2014. She studied with Martha Johnson and Kathryn Bemrose in Toronto, Ontario, concentrating on impressionistic themed paintings. During the last eight years, she has shown her paintings at the Sudbury Art Club Show and One Sky Gallery Boutique in Sudbury, Ontario. Most recently, Alissa moved towards abstract expressionism and mixed media artwork. In May 2024 Alissa participated and showed her abstract art in “A Matter of Time” for emerging artists, curated by Sasha Court and presented in Dartmouth, NS. Alissa started showing at Teichert Gallery in 2023. Read Alissa's artist statement on her profile.
We asked the artist:
What is your biggest indulgence as an artist?
Time for me to do my artwork, when I should be doing something else.
What is important to you as an artist?
Personal space and good mindset for art production.
What challenges you the most in your practice?
Having a good chunk of time to get deep into making art.
If you were to hang one work of art by another artist in your home, which would you choose?
Leya Evelyn. I love her work. It is juicy, thick and rich with marks.