The Knish Witch
Renanin (Ren) Speiser (b. 2000) (they) is a Queer, Jewish, multidisciplinary artist currently working in New York City. They were raised in the New Jersey pine barrens, whose unique ecosystem and folktales have inspired much of their work. Using mediums such as CGI, photography, textiles, embroidery, and video, Speiser examines how nature, technology, culture and nontraditional femme identities interact through a multimedia lens.
Speiser views their practice not only as a reflection of the individual but also as an anthology chronicling our collective experiences. Specifically, their employment of historical motifs from Ashkenazi Jewish, Hungarian, and American folklore allows Speiser to create conversations that span generational boundaries and recontextualize our artistic and philosophical traditions within a modern world. They often utilize folk and craft aesthetics in order to challenge negative narratives surrounding femmes and the traditional textile work they are associated with, while also analyzing the art world’s attitudes towards the genre of folk art itself.
----------------------------------
Speiser’s work has been featured in group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Some selected exhibits include the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art’s 2022 Digital Summer Show, the 2022 Post-Covid Art Evolution exhibition at the Manhattan P.I. Art Center, the 2021 Land of Post-Photo Virtual Washington Square Park by DSL Collection and Sansar, Denver Digerati’s SUPERNOVA Festival 2021 in Denver, Colorado, and was selected by NYU Professor Snow Yunxue Fu to be featured in the 202 International Art Graduates Exhibition at the Tsinghua University Department of Art and Design, in Beijing, China.
Their graphic designs have been featured in the Summer 2021 edition of Society6’s Product Magazine and the 2022 program for the Biohydrology exhibition at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Department of Photography and Imaging. They also were the 2018 winner (and a 2019 finalist) of the Curbside Skate Shop Design Competition.