I don't think that my work is actually effectively dealing with history. I think of my work as subsumed by history or consumed by history.
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 WalkerThe silhouette says a lot with very little information, but that's also what the stereotype does.
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