KARA WALKER
Subject Matter
Kara Walker is best
known for her investigation of race, gender, sexuality, and violence through
silhouetted figures appear in her exhibitions. Kara Walker’s ‘Gone, An
Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One
Young Negress and Her Heart (1994)’ includes cut-out silhouettes arranged on a
white wall that portrays uncanny, sexual and violent scenes in which she uses
to explore the ideas of slavery, society, gender, class and ethnic stereotypes.
The work conveys feelings of passion, intimacy as well as oppression.
Technique
‘Gone, An Historical
Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young
Negress and Her Heart (1994)’ was made by simply cutting out black paper to create silhouettes, then using adhesive to stick the silhouettes onto a wall.
There is quite a lot of depth is this particular work as some of the
silhouettes have been enlarged and others compressed to create the illusion
that some things are further away than others, which makes some of the forms
appear to be in the distance. The use of black and white in this piece gives it
a very dynamic effect as it enables the viewer to focus solely on the subject
matter and the story Kara Walker is trying to illustrate rather than being
distracted by vibrant colours or patterns. Using black figures against a white
background also creates a bold contrast which causes it stand out to its
audience. The texture of the work is smooth due to the media used and the
subject is being viewed at eye level.
Links
with my own work
I chose Kara Walker because I like the
concept behind her work as it is very meaningful and explores African-American’s
history which is relevant to my family tree. I also really like the way in which she illustrates the
‘dark side’ of society and brings it to light instead of sugar coating reality. Her style differs from mine as I prefer to
incorporate a lot of detail in my work while her style is quite simple as she works with 2D cut-outs. As a result of studying the work of Kara Walker, I
would like to create work that has a meaningful subject matter that addresses a particular topic rather than a painting or
drawing without a meaning behind it.
Quotations from other sources
"The history of America is built on
inequality, this foundation of a racial inequality and social inequality,"
the artist has said. "And we buy into it. I mean, whiteness is just as
artificial a construct as blackness is." In this interview, she explains the reason
behind why she uses black and white and why it’s so significant in her work.
“Melodrama . . . I’ve always been interested
in the melodramatic, in outrageous gestures. One thing that got me interested
in working this way, with the silhouettes but then working on a large scale had
to do with two longings. One was to make a history painting in the grand
tradition. I love history paintings. I didn’t realize I loved them for a long
time. I thought that they were ridiculous, in their pompous gesture. But the
more I started to examine my own relationship with history—my own attempts to
position myself in my historical moment—the more love I had for this artistic,
painterly conceit, which is: to make a painting a stage and to think of your
characters, your portraits or whomever, as characters on that stage. And to
give them this moment, to freeze-frame a moment that is full of pain and blood
and guts and drama and glory... but the second longing is about trying to
examine what it is to be an African American woman artist.” – In this
interview, she mentions the inspirations behinds her art and what she is trying
to achieve through her illustrations.
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/8aa/8aa140.htm
(18/10/14)
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