Untitled

Ronald Lockett, who lived in Bessemer, Alabama near his older cousin and artistic mentor Thornton Dial, experimented with various media and techniques throughout his short career. In 1992 or 1993, he began working with rusted sheet metal, using the monochromatic material as figure and ground, layering it to evoke the strata encountered in an archeological dig. By his death at age 32, the artist had created a body of work that considered memorialization on personal and large-scale levels; his pieces ranged in subject from his weakening body to national tragedy (including a series about the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City) to the disappearing natural world.

Here, a lone animal is given form through strips of repurposed metal, then given dimension through the interplay between the damaged surface and light. To the animal’s right one sees flowers and a tree branch, hinting at the natural world receding into the earth-toned tin. The three-dimensional quality is minimalistic and effective. There is a sense of desolation to the monochromatic scene, and the decaying material further reflects his themes of destruction and rebirth.