Tee Portrait of Terence Ryans by Anna Kocher

From Tee’s mother Cherie Ryans: Tee was a friendly, outgoing young man. He was an encourager, always telling and others, "You can do it.” TEE loved model cars, spending hours designing them. He enjoyed listening to rap music. His favorite sport was basketball, watching it on TV or playing it on a court. He wore baseball caps with teams’ name on them. He was a left handed baseball player. TEE was quite a Pool player as well. TEE was a fashion trendsetter.  TEE was a family person. He loved life and family.

From the artist Anna Kocher: It is a humbling experience to be granted permission to look back through someone’s life through pictures and stories, and then to try to encapsulate some of that person’s precious life in a painting without having known them. From his mother’s stories and reflections, Terence “TEE” Ryans sounded like a wonderful person, a good friend, brother, and son, a happy and engaged boy, admired in his community. He had a unique sense of style, which I enjoyed attempting to capture in his portrait. He was a joyful child and grew to be a young man full of promise, who was beginning college when he was senselessly killed by someone who mistook him for someone else. I loved looking through the photos his mother shared with me of a small, happy baby, who grew into a smiling child, and then into a handsome young man, but the fact that the photos ended there is heartbreaking. I am thankful to his family for sharing some memories of their beautiful son with me and for allowing me to have a small role in remembering and honoring his life.

From the curator: It is difficult to believe someone could have mistaken Tee for someone else. Anna does a beautiful job of showcasing his standout style complete with his triumphant pose and fabulous sunglasses worn with confidence. His story is truly heartbreaking and even more so when it is not an uncommon one - far too many of our portraits are of people killed because of mistaken identity.

Tee Portrait of Terence Ryans by Anna Kocher oil on canvas 20” x 24” 2018