inspiration

Nikita Young sculpts from a live model, attempting to convey thru a representational figurative sculpture, the essence of that person’s humanity, the fleeting beauty and harmony of expression on both face and form.

She sees the model’s pose, not as the absence of motion but rather a pause, a momentary stillness of movement, of life, capturing of pleasure both ephemeral and everlasting.

She leaves some tool marks and textured surface to suggest the reality of both the sculptural medium and this illusionary nature of beauty.

Nikita Young hopes to stimulate the perception of deeper feeling by others.

bio

Nikita Young was born on a mountainside in South Korea and most of her life there was one continuous struggle to survive. Even then, in spite of all the hardship, she found solace in art, drawing, sketching, and handcrafting. Art was her only comfort and escape from the harshness of the reality. From an early age, she was very inquisitive, always yearning to learn more about life and the meaning of it all. She often dreamed of a bigger world, filling her curious mind with all the unknown possibilities. Finally in her early twenties, she got the courage and left the country for the United States. It was the scariest decision she ever had to make. Her coming to America was meant to find a life more fitting to her dream. And she was finally home.

For the first decade, she could not afford any glimpse of normal life, just being busy studying and working to support herself because she was so convinced that a truly meaningful life in America was only possible through true understanding of both the language and the culture. With her tenacious effort, she finally completed her education, earning AA in Fine Art from OCC and then BS in Finance as the Outstanding Graduate, Colleges of Business Administration, 2004 from CSULB. She recalls that giving a speech as the valedictorian in her hard-earned graduation ceremony in front of tens of thousands people was one of the most moving moments in her life. Although she was successful pursuing her career in business, she couldn’t escape from an emptiness, longing for more of life. Eventually, yet reluctantly, she faced it and started her search for internal fulfillment all over again. And at last, she found what her heart desired, Art. It was art all along, what she was missing so much...

She has been sculpting full time since then. Primarily self-taught, she also has been attending art communities and workshops. Along with having opportunities to work with some of well known sculptors like John Coleman and Bruno Lucchesi, she was also fortunate enough to learn from Richard MacDonald. During their first personal encounter, upon seeing only a few images of her work, Richard MacDonald enthusiastically invited her to his immediately upcoming workshop in Monterey and then in the following year, he even generously provided a scholarship for another workshop. He has been a magnanimous mentor to her ever since. Nikita Young’s sculptures have been acknowledged and highly admired by both other artists and art enthusiasts.  She also has received numerous awards from various juried art shows. And her work has been represented by galleries in Laguna Beach in CA and Scottsdale in AZ.