Silhouettes and Subversion: Unraveling the Narrative Tapestry of Kara Walker's Artistic Genius

Kara Walker, living her early childhood years in the integrated coastal area of California, lived a routine life. Her father’s employment at Georgia State University prompted a move to Stone Mountain (which still maintained KKK gatherings at the time). Alienated because of her race, she would be the target of targeted name-calling and racial remarks. Scared to be stereotypical with her art, she struggled to incorporate race into her works. However, while at RISD completing her master's, she began addressing race and slavery through her iconic black silhouettes. Her identifiers are friezes of black silhouettes on a white surface. Using these silhouettes to create enigmatic, erotic, and violent caricatures, Walker intends to create an unsettling scene (normally about how slaves and black people have been treated in the past). Her usual medium is paper, however, she also works with gouache, watercolor, video animation, lighting, and sculpts. 

Walker creates biblical or historical scenes that highlight whitewashed parts of history, primarily black history in America. Her art is meant to reframe past events that seem to be brushed under the rug by confronting the blatant stereotyping of America’s historical ‘lies’ 

Darkytown Rebellion is nothing short of breathtaking. Her classic silhouettes with the projected simplistic landscape beaming with bold colors being projected along the wall to bring life to the paper cutouts (despite the horrid imagery). The scene displays a violent rebellion of enslaved peoples attempting to overthrow their enslavers. Her silhouettes are incredibly exaggerated racist stereotypes of black people and posed in vulgar and violent ways. Taken from the antebellum period of US history, it successfully leaves the viewer uncomfortable. This particular piece is incredibly unnerving since the cutouts are life-size. Walker meant for this to be an interactive work, utilizing the lighting of the landscape. The audience is meant to be a part of the work, their shadows being incorporated in the violent scene - purposely made to force the viewer to confront the scene in front of them.