Biography
Ryniee DeCheser creates abstract art that portray kinetic meditations on connection, inclusion, and resilience.
Her lyrical paintings draw upon her journey to understand what it means to process everyday life through her son’s autism.
While being classically trained and receiving her BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, Ryniee developed a deep interest in a real-time journalistic approach of reportage illustration. With reportage she was able to draw on streets of New York City to explore the movement of the crowds, how they moved as individuals and at other times, in unison. This type of reportage required her to unlearn her classical training.
Over time Ryniee was able to achieve a state that allowed her to convey humans and architecture with basic line and form, to channel raw expression as she captured the rhythm of life in fluid, narrative moments.
But, after her son’s diagnosis in 2011, she had to unlearn again.
In trying to decipher how he experienced sounds, spaces, and social interactions, she tried to inhabit his non-verbal world. She always felt he was a human first, who happened to have autism and so encouraged his developing spirit. She noticed he was profoundly grounded in nature, which in turn affected her bond to it. He looked upon experiences as new adventures and approached them with curiosity and joy.
The boundaries of the canvas represent how he would trace the boundaries of every room he entered, as he didn’t have proprioceptive awareness of his body in space. Her latest body of work is the attempt to capture his internal conversation between confusion and beauty, the unique way that he sees the world, and how this has shaped her views. She aims to bridge the individual neurodiverse experience with our common human desires of belonging and connection.
Ryniee had her first solo exhibition in New York City in 2023, and has been part of several group shows including the NJ State Museum in Trenton, Newport Centre in Jersey City, and J. Nunez Gallery in Millburn, New Jersey.
Her work is included in private collections in the United States, London, and Abu Dhabi— including celebrities such as Cara Seymour (The Knick, Gangs of New York), Stephanie J. Block (Orange Is the New Black, Homeland), and Sebastian Arcelus (House of Cards, Madam Secretary).
Born
Seoul, Korea
Education
1994, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
1999, BFA Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Solo Exhibitions
2023
The Gallery at 350 Bleecker, New York, NY
Brave Floral, Maplewood, NJ
2019
MEUS, Maplewood, NJ
Group Exhibitions
2023
”Reemergence” —NJ State Museum, Trenton, NJ
”Pink” —Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJ
J Nunez Gallery, Millburn, NJ
2022
Art Fair 14C —Jersey City Armory, Jersey City, NJ
”Woman” —Exhibizone, Online
2021
”SOMA Studio Tour” —Maplewood, NJ
2019
”Maplewood Art Walk” —Maplewood Village, Maplewood, NJ
Publications
2022
“Conscious Desires” —Rise to Greater Heights, Sony Music, AAPI Heritage Month
“At The Event” —Create! Magazine, Special mention
2021
“Butterfly Effect”—Artistonish Magazine
Press
During my interview with the Maplewood-based artist Ryniee DeCheser, I was several times reminded of a quote from one of my all time favorite movies uttered by the incomparable Stockard Channing “Chaos, control. Chaos, control. You like?” (And yes, you absolutely should rewatch Six Degrees of Separation, and no, a double-sided Kandinsky does, sadly, not actually exist). Duality is a theme that kept resurfacing throughout our conversation…the tension between the rational and the emotional in her choice to study both economics and art, as with her love for both design and abstraction (with abstraction ultimately winning out…she finally concluded her work as a designer and fashion illustrator to focus on her art full time). And of course there is the duality captured in the art itself. Ryniee’s current work took root during the pandemic, when she, like many of us, found herself spending much more time in nature, noticing so much movement in what at first glance may seem so serene…her paintings seeking to portray a snapshot of movement in time. She paints on linen, which she says reminds her of the desert, an homage to her native Los Angeles, and the perfect canvas for her to explore a more intuitive way of making art.
Afield
Drift Afield
July 2023
”Twenty Essex County artists featured in upcoming exhibition at NJ State Museum”
Essex News Daily
June 2022
Allow us to introduce Ryniee DeCheser, a Korean American abstract artist who often explores the dualities of nature in her work. DeCheser partnered with us to help visually bring this month’s theme to life, and when asked how the selected artwork relates, she said that it reflects her life as both a Korean and American in today’s world.
“There is an interplay of culture, at times clashing and other times enhancing my everyday experiences,” she explained. “In this time of pandemic and anti-AAPI sentiment, my work became pronounced with synthetic form and color, reflecting this influence into my life.”
Sony Music Group
Sony Music Group Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 2022