Dilchand's Spot: HUA Assignment #6

Artist - Kara Walker

Kara Walker is an African-American artist whose artwork symbolizes gender, sexuality, race and identity. Inspired by her father's artwork at the age of 3, she became best known for her black cut-paper silhouettes. Most of her artwork circulates around the concept of race. She often uses body shapes, facial features and a unique line and form to show how race is intertwined with our lives. Her work is extremely precise reflecting the ethnicity of her subjects and significance of her artwork. Walker uses images that are pure black on her wall murals, eliminating the need for skin tones. The racial status of her characters in her wall murals, drawings and watercolors are visible through stereotypes. She applies different techniques in her paintings and drawings, videos and performances, light projection and cut-paper silhouettes. According to Walker, making artwork about race translates into issues about identity.

Her best known work is her cut-paper silhouettes. This imagery which reduced human beings to their physical appearance gave her something to use, with other characterizations of racial representation. Representing humans in the form of black cut-outs made her work seem simply and cartoonish. From this emerged racial stereotypes, which like cut-paper silhouettes, reduces the complexity of human beings. Her first large scale cut-paper silhouette mural was displayed in 1994 in New York. It was known as "Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart".

Before she is became famous for her cut-outs, she was previously a painter. She worked with oils and recently returned to painting with watercolors. She used her talents in painting to layer her black silhouettes over colorful backgrounds and landscapes. Also related to her silhouettes and painting, is her drawing skills. She constantly draws images to cut into silhouettes and sketches ideas on paper.
Kara Walker also uses texts in several of her drawings, however only a portion of her work is purely text-based. These texts are expressions that the artist writes to herself, as well as thoughts voiced directly to the viewer. A piece known as "Letter from a Black Girl (1998)" is one of Walker's more larger scale wall texts. It addresses the power dynamics between the relationship of two lovers, master and slave, and artist and art world.

Walker also uses light projection to cast shadows and create a unique environment for those who view her artwork. For example in her piece "Darkytown Rebellion", she uses cut-silhouettes with vibrant light from color transparencies to involve her viewers into the artwork. Viewers are more involved in this piece as their shadows cast onto the wall as they walk around. Because of this effect, viewers own silhouettes are part of the artwork and history. In other work such as film and video, Walker begins to animate the characters in her narratives. In such animations like "Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions", she is able to tell a story through texts and moving subjects.

Kara Walker's Work

"Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart"