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Additional Artworks

From Ronald Young

  1. Everything Falls Apart by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Everything Falls Apart

    20 x 12 x 12 in (50.8 x 30.48 x 30.48 cm)

  2. Crown (Totem Poles Series). by Ronald Young, Image 2.

    Crown (Totem Poles Series).

    Sculpture

    58 x 12 x 15 in (147.32 x 30.48 x 38.1 cm)

    $16,995

  3. Caught in the Middle by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Caught in the Middle

    Sculpture

    9 x 12 x 12 in (22.86 x 30.48 x 30.48 cm)

    $3,995

  4. Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Ronald Young, Image 2.

    Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    Sculpture

    16 x 12 x 12 in (40.64 x 30.48 x 30.48 cm)

  5. A Slippery Slope by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    A Slippery Slope

    Sculpture

    14 x 9 x 9 in (35.56 x 22.86 x 22.86 cm)

    $4,995

  6. JuJu-Crank Drill by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    JuJu-Crank Drill

    Sculpture

    31 x 9 x 9 in (78.74 x 22.86 x 22.86 cm)

    $12,995

  7. JuJu-Soldering Irons by Ronald Young, Image 3.

    JuJu-Soldering Irons

    Sculpture

    26 x 9 x 9 in (66.04 x 22.86 x 22.86 cm)

  8. JuJu-Pitch Fork by Ronald Young, Image 3.

    JuJu-Pitch Fork

    Sculpture

    20 x 12 x 9 in (50.8 x 30.48 x 22.86 cm)

    $11,995

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Exploring sites throughout St. Louis, Ronald Young scavenges the items he incorporates into his multilayered sculptures. He combines objects like doorknobs and rusted tools with charred wood, rope, bricks, chains, and nails--always plenty of nails. Through his efforts, Young reveals local material and economic realities: In St. Louis, he finds these items in buildings that have fallen into disrepair and elevates them into compelling artworks that celebrate this hard-won beauty.

Young is inspired by African nkisi, sculptural objects made by Kongo artists and used in ritual ceremonies. Nkisi can refer to spirits or the sculptures in which they reside, and each nail driven into the object is a spiritual vow between humans and non-human sources of power. Drawing inspiration from these ancient rituals and traditions, Young's sculptures focus this energy. Through his handiwork, Young makes gestures of reparation and restoration, and signals his care for St. Louis. He shows us that even in the midst of crisis--or perhaps because of it--it is possible to find moments of beauty and reckoning.

Text by Dean Daderko and Misa Jefferies

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