Ryan Lee Maeshiro
Ryan Lee Maeshiro
Ryan Lee an Lee Maeshiro is an internationally exhibiting painter whose work explores themes of impermanence, cultural memory, and ancestral heritage. A descendant of samurai lineage bearing the kamon (family crest) of crossed arrows in a circle—丸に違い矢 (Maru ni Chigai Ya)—his paintings are meditations on displacement, warrior philosophy, and the search for essential truth.
Born and raised on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i, Maeshiro studied painting and music at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. As a double bassist, he trained under the legendary jazz musician Charlie Haden and performed with the Hawaii Youth Symphony. His artistic influences range from Caravaggio and Gerhard Richter to the sword saint Miyamoto Musashi.
A dedicated Buddhist practitioner for over 25 years, Maeshiro's contemplative practice deeply informs his work. The intersection of warrior lineage and spiritual discipline shapes his artistic vision—his samurai armor paintings are not merely studies of craftsmanship, but explorations of ancestral memory and the codes that governed his forebears.
Grandfather
London 2023
Oil on Canvas
6.5 ft x 5 ft
His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Honolulu, and he has twice been selected for the prestigious "Artists of Hawai'i" survey exhibition (2009, 2011). He is a recipient of the Violette Wong Hu Art Award from the Honolulu Museum of Art. His piece "Pau Pele, Pau Manō" received recognition for its meditation on Hawaiian identity and the choice between earth and sea, fire and water.
Maeshiro's nomadic practice takes him throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, where painting and Buddhist study remain inseparable. He exhibits selectively and rarely makes work available for acquisition, focusing on pieces that emerge from deep contemplation of ancestry, impermanence, and the essential.
Enlightenment
London 2023
Oil on canvas
6.5 ft x 5 ft
Enlightenment London, 2023. Oil on canvas, 6.5 ft x 5 ft
Head #3 London, 2023. Oil on canvas 6.5 ft x 5 ft
Car Crash #1 San Francisco, 2022. Oil on canvas 3.5 ft x 5 ft
Lotus #4 2021. Charcoal, oil, ink and acrylic on canvas 45” x 7”
Karmapa 2020 Ink and acrylic on linen 5” x 3”
Khyentse 2020 Charcoal & watercolour on canvas 10 in x 14 in
UH OH (studio view) 2021 Ink and spray paint on canvas 2.5” x 2”
Cosmonaut 2020 Ink and acrylic on linen 3” x 5”
Dean 2020 Ink and acrylic on linen 5” x 3”
Nihomano (teeth of the shark) 2020 Ink on vinyl print 4.5” x 10”
Lotus painting #7 2023 Inkjet print on metal 2.75 ft. x 2.75 ft.
iPhone painting #12 2025 18 inches x 8 inches
Nun self-portrait 2021 Ink, graphite and acrylic on canvas 5” x 3”
