Im not really about blackness, per se, but about blackness and whiteness, and what they mean and how they interact with one another and what power is all about.
Kara WalkerI think really the whole problem with racism and its continuing legacy in this country is that we simply love it. Who would we be without the 'struggle?'
Kara WalkerSugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated with pure and ‘true’ it takes a lot of energy to turn brown things into white things. A lot of pressure.
Kara WalkerSilhouettes are reductions, and racial stereotypes are also reductions of actual human beings.
Kara WalkerIf you're a Black artist, you could paint a wall of smiley faces, and someone will still ask you, 'Why are you so angry?'
Kara WalkerI didn’t want a completely passive viewer. Art means too much to me. To be able to articulate something visually is really an important thing. I wanted to make work where the viewer wouldn’t walk away; he would giggle nervously, get pulled into history, into fiction, into something totally demeaning and possibly very beautiful
Kara Walker