Tracy von Ahsen

Tracy von Ahsen (b. 1981, Long Island, NY) is a New York City–based artist whose analog collages merge spirituality, memory, and myth. After earning a degree in photography from the Fashion Institute of Technology and living at the Chelsea Hotel, she transitioned to collage, cutting and layering symbols of identity, femininity, and presence.

Her work is shaped by addiction recovery, queer identity, and global spiritual study—from monks in India to ceremonies in Peru, from the friction of New York City to the emotional landscapes of personal transformation. She has exhibited in NYC at Van Der Plas Gallery, Amos Eno Gallery, the Leslie-Lohman Museum, and Prince Street Project Space. She continues to create from her studio in the East Village.


Artist Statement

In my analog collage practice, I explore the space between transformation and stillness—those liminal moments where lightness reveals itself not as escape, but as truth. Lightness, to me, is not the absence of weight, but the moment something heavy shifts. It’s the breath that follows the full processing of stored emotion, and the clarity that surfaces when we surrender to presence. Lightness is our natural state. This light condenses into various forms and situations in order to become more self-aware, increasing the light for all in a never-ending expansion of consciousness.

Using hand-cut collage, I build layered visual worlds from recurring symbols—curtains, chairs, fashion relics, natural landscapes, and soft architectural fragments. These scenes, both interior and exterior, create psychological spaces that hold tension, release, and transformation. My faceless feminine figures are not erased, but liberated—from expectation and identity as performance. They become archetypes. As vessels, they invite the viewer to reflect on personal choice, emotional truth, and alternate realities.

Because lightness is not where we end. It’s what allows us to begin again.


www.tracyvonahsen.com