Alena Ahrens is an Asian American artist working between the United States and Portugal. Her practice spans painting, folded paper structures, and large-scale arc works.
She comes from the American Midwest and Southeast Asia — places with distinct and contrasting views of the self. Her heritage is one of spirit keepers: bricklayers, fisher folk, Baptist deacons, Buddhist monks, graffiti walls, planters, transcendental mantras. The convergence of these worlds informs a practice that engages minimalf orm through embodied awareness.
Ahrens has exhibited in solo and group shows at MoMA PS1 (NewYork), Zhou B. Art Center (Chicago), Tipi Project (Brooklyn), DAMUTheatre (Prague), and ARTROOM (Lisbon). She has held residencies at Residency Unlimited (New York), Hangar Arts (Lisbon), and AiR 351(Lisbon), where she is currently in residence. In 2025, a selection of her Satori paintings was acquired by the J.P. Morgan Chase ArtCollection.
She maintains studios in Sintra, Portugal and Saint Louis, MO -USA.