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Additional Artworks

From Ronald Young

  1. Tightening Up The Kitchen by Ronald Young

    Tightening Up The Kitchen

    Mixed Media

    12 x 11 x 3 in (30.48 x 27.94 x 7.62 cm)

    $1,995

  2. Hott N Heere by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Hott N Heere

    Mixed Media

    11 x 9 x 3 in (27.94 x 22.86 x 7.62 cm)

    $1,995

  3. If These Irons Could Talk by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    If These Irons Could Talk

    Mixed Media

    16 x 10 x 4 in (40.64 x 25.4 x 10.16 cm)

    $2,195

  4. Press n Curl by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Press n Curl

    Mixed Media

    16 x 10 x 4 in (40.64 x 25.4 x 10.16 cm)

    $2,195

  5. Kitchen Beautician by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Kitchen Beautician

    Mixed Media

    16 x 10 x 4 in (40.64 x 25.4 x 10.16 cm)

    $2,195

  6. Bahia by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Bahia

    Mixed Media

    16 x 10 x 4 in (40.64 x 25.4 x 10.16 cm)

    $2,495

  7. Cross My Hope, Hope To Die by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    Cross My Hope, Hope To Die

    Mixed Media

    76 x 28 x 32 in (193.04 x 71.12 x 81.28 cm)

  8. In This Place Called Other People by Ronald Young, Image 1.

    In This Place Called Other People

    Mixed Media

    16.5 x 16 x 5.5 in (41.91 x 40.64 x 13.97 cm)

    $4,995

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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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