Kara Walker is an American artist known for works exploring themes of racism and slavery through conceptual art and text-based paintings. She uses silhouettes, installations, drawings and collages to illustrate the history of racism against Black people in the US and highlight the contrast between white and Black races. Walker's art draws attention to the legacy of slavery, violence and discrimination faced by African Americans to promote discussion on racism in society.

1. Farhood Rashidi
Professor Pollack
English 102/ ART 105
10 December 2015
Racism in Kara Walker’s Artworks
Kara Elizabeth Walker is one of the American famous contemporary artists. She is known for the
“Conceptual Art” and “Text Art Painting Collage”. Walker was born in 1969 in California, US, and then
moved to Georgia, USA, in 1982, to start her career as a painter. She demonstrates a Racism in her art-
works and illustrates race, violence, sexuality, and the contrast between whites and blacks; in other words,
the theme of Walker’s artworks is Racism and includes slavery and White people’s violence.
Racism is a political and social term and has negative effects in the today society. This action has
been held in some societies such as USA, Germany, Iran, Italy, and South Africa. In fact, Racism means the
white people influence the black people; and is derived from the race, means which ethnicity and national-
ity. During the human history, many of the governments performed Racism against the minority of soci-
ety; for instance, in Germany, “Adolf Hitler” (Rodrigues 148) is a Nazi leader between 1930 and 1945, and
executed the Holocaust against Jewish. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela fought over the Apartheid system;
in addition, “Stalin” (Rodrigues 149) in Russia and Mussolini in Italy are the two famous leaders in the
Racism and Nationalism over the 1900s history.
This paper explains the history of Racism in USA and then analyzes the Kara Walker’s artworks
such as installations, drawings, collages, sculptures, and paintings; in relation to slavery (forcing to work
under hard conditions). At the end of this paper, the impact of Racism and the social and political analysis
of Walker’s artworks will be described further.
Rashidi 1

2. In the US, Racism has a long history since the black community entered from Africa to Ameri-
ca. The vast majority of the black people moved to US; because, the british government needed the salves
and labors for farming and working in the offices and homes. Slaves were working under hard conditions
without getting any sufficient salary. During the 1800s, most black people, who lived in the southeastern
US, worked in the farmland. After the Industrial Revolution, the black workers moved to the northeastern
part of the US from Boston to Chicago. The reason was working in the factories and industrial buildings
such as textile and steel factories. Meantime, the Civil War during the 1860s was founded by the slavery
case. During this period, the southern part of US fought over the northern part for the ending of slavery,
but the Southern part was lost and the slavery case had been ended; however, the slavery was continued at
the some parts of the US during 1900s. The most important fact in this case is Racism and discrimination
between the white and black races; in addition, the Civil Rights movement was the next period in the Afri-
can-American activism between 1960 and 1970.
In general, the white people performed the Racist actions against blacks. Those believed the African
people should be slaves and must work under hard conditions, whereas the black people never agreed with
this belief. Thus, there were many conflicts between the white and black people during the US history; for
instance, Martin Luthe King, Jr. was a African-American Civil Rights movement leader against discrim-
ination during the 1960s. He believed blacks and whites are equal and discrimination must be ended. Of
course, many African-American people have fought in this way, and now Barak Obama was selected for
the president of US, who is the first African-American US president.
Rashidi 2
History of Racism in the US

3. Rashidi 3
Racism in Walker’s Painting
Walker, as noted above, asserts the idea behind her artworks, Racism and identity. She mentions
relationships between the form and content of her pieces; for instance, the relationship between the black
paper and the black character in the case of silhouette (image of a person shaped by a black paper). In other
words, the black paper is identified as the black people and is surrounded by the white paper as the white
society. Walker expresses the creating of silhouette in drawing on black paper and then cutting and stick-
ing on the wall. This is a great technique to emphasize the contrast between the black and white people;
on the other hand, she points out a hole in the black paper as a hole in the world. This hole represents as a
separation between the whites and blacks in the racist world!
In the Figure 5, catharsis is shown between the male and female characters in the focal point. It
seems to be the romantic space includes tree, moon, grass, and so on; in other words, catharsis means the
emotion between people such as man and woman. Kara Walker tries to show the emotional action and
reaction under Racism conditions, which came from the unfair work and life conditions between whites
and blacks. She introduces herself as a minstrel to tell the old tales around 18s and 19s; means, her painting
is a narrative illustration based on the historical stories. This narration will be better to display in the wall
installation.
I had done cut pieces and collage work, but it really came in this moment of catharsis. I
was tracing outlines of profiles, thinking about physiognomies and racist sciences, and
the re-inscribing of identity based on white male parameters, and minstrelsy, and that
being the opposite- the shadow and the dark side of the soul. I was making silhouette
paintings, but they weren’t the same thing. And it seemed like the most obvious answer
was just to make a cut in the surface of this black thing. I had this black paper, and if
I just made a cut in it I was creating a hole. And it was like the whole world was in (64).
Susan Sollins interviewed with Kara Walker to explore the theme of Racism in:

4. Rashidi 4
Racism in Walker’s Installation
I was looking at racist paraphernalia, iconography, and then at these accurate versions
of Americans. I began to associate the silhouette itself, the cutting, with a form of
blackface minstrelsy. Here we have these mainly white sitters or a few slaves who were
documented in silhouette and that’s what I had already ruled out for myself, “No paint-
ing oil here, no going to ape the master that way.” One thing that got me interested in
working with silhouette, but then working on the large scale, had to do with two sorts
of longing. One was to make history painting in the grand tradition (Sollins 60).
Kara Walker, as cited above, says that her artworks are the iconography of Racsim, means the sym-
bol of Racism. She strives to display the Racist concepts such as slavery; thus, Walker uses the installation
technique and shows the big image of the visual story to the audience. The story talks about the history of
slavery in US since 1800s. She mentions she uses the silhouette rather than oil painting; also, creates the
new form, not ape of the old artworks!
In the Figure 2, the series of slaves is shown and includes the image of the black people, who are
working under hard conditions; for instance, on the left side, one slave carries the boat and another one
transfers the water bucket. The curve surface of wall helps to create the panoramic view of installation;
therefore, visitors realize themselves in the surrounding area. Kara walker uses the different characters to
show a variety of people, who contribute in the historical society. Racism is perfectly shown in this artwork
with a combination of the actions between the white and black people. One of these action is a punishment
of the negro baby by a white person. In this case, the combined shapes have a great power to visualize an
image; of course, the wavy lines around the face and body of characters have created the Art Masterpiece.
Meanwhile, the repetition and variety of different characters across this piece improve the imagery. As
mentioned above, Walker tends to combine the different colors such as the white and black papers in an-
other installation. Walker’s collage draws more attention to this combination.

5. Rashidi 5
Racism in Walker’s Collage
Beauty is just kind of an accident. Beauty is the reminders of being a painter. The work
becomes pretty because I wouldn’t be able to look at a work about something as gro-
tesque as projecting one’s ugly soul onto another’s pretty body, and representing that
in an ugly way. I have always been attracted to the lure, work that draw a viewer in
through a kind of seductive offering (Sollins 62).
Kara Walker, as noted above, points out that beauty is a most important fact in her artworks.
However, she mentions converting the ugly soul to the pretty body; means, the artworks is borrowing the
ugly idea such as Racism and slavery. In this way, collage is a great artform to create the grotesque (mixed
artforms and elements) and mixed media such as the combination of drawing, painting, text, and photo.
Walker is one the successful artists to utilize the collage to show the history of African-American commu-
nity in the US perfectly.
In the Figure 4, two words are bold, “Pictorial History”, means, the visual history of civil war in
the US. On the center of this artwork as a focal point, the colorful photo of the black woman is shown. But,
this image is broken at some parts and fallen on the bottom, means the slavery has been ended. Meantime,
the drawing of the tradition of history is shown on the background of this piece. The interesting point is a
contrast between the colorful foreground, and black & white background. This contrast helps to realize the
idea behind the collage. As mentioned above, Kara Walker interests to create the beauty inside of artwork,
and then tells the visual story about the slavery; for instance, Civil War is a main concept of the Figure 4,
which is the period of history of the US in relation to slavery. Thus, Walker wants to connect between the
past and present, Civil War and current Racism. In other words, the consequence of this artwork is “Rac-
ism is still alive”; but, the form of this concept is changed from the traditional to modern, same as B&W to
colorful image!

6. Rashidi 6
Racism in Walker’s Sculpture
As cited above, Kara Walker founds the masterpiece named Sugar Baby sculpture, Figure 1, the
postmodern artform. As mentioned previously, she tends to create a new artform such as a sculpture;
Therefore, Walker decides to build the big and strange sculpture as a caricature shape. This caricature is a
symbol of a back character such as pickaninnies, sambos, mandingos and Uncle Toms in the racist world.
In the Figure 1, the naked black woman is shown, a symbol of slave or servant. But, this sculpture
has a 28ft-tall height, means the big sculpture fills a huge space in Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn,
New York , USA. Meanwhile, the material of this sculpture is the refined white sugar (the pure sugar), the
sweet taste for visitors, the satisfied taste for the human beings rest of the world! Moreover, the texture of
this artwork is subtle and smooth, to feel the sympathy and also better to realize the concept, the unpaid
and overworked black people must be equal to white. The Figure 1 is based on the sphinx (Greek myth is
shown in Egypt and Persia), which is the combination of the face of a human, the body of a lion, and the
wing of a bird; but, this sculpture hasn’t wings and has the exaggerated seat and chest; even though, the
natural light comes from the factory’s window helps to establish the Marvellous and vivid space. Indeed,
the Sugar Baby is a 21s masterpiece and a big image of the balck woman servant during the history of Rac-
ism; in addition, Walker’s drawing prepares to build this sculpture.
A Subtlety, or the Marvellous Sugar baby, an Homage to the unpaid and overworked
Artisans who have refined, or Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the kitchens of the
New World. Walker has attached the head of a black house servant to the body of a giant
sphinx, made out of refined white sugar over a polystyrene core. Her slow thighs rest in
the empty Domino Sugar warehouse…..Racist caricatures hold a strange appeal for her. In
the same way that victimised groups adopt their persecutors’ slurs as a badge of pride, she
heaps her work with pickaninnies, sambos, mandingos and Uncle Toms (1-2).
Ariella Budick reviewed the Kara Walke’s Sugar Factory sculpture in:

7. Rashidi 7
Racism in Walker’s Drawing
As noted above, Kara Walker is a great artist to visualize the history of Racism and African-Amer-
ican in the US. She has a good imagery and narration power in her artworks such as drawing. In general,
drawing is a base of fine art and architecture. Walker uses this medium in the recent works; because, she
believes the drawing draws in the viewer’s attention as well.
In the Figure 3, the blur image of barbarism (non civilized societies) is shown; however, the quality
of lines is not good; but, viewer tries to understand the concept behind the artwork, Racism and the anar-
chy in the 19s society. Kara Walker mentions the sadism (a psychological disorder) in this piece; in other
words, she strives to display the suffering between humans in the nineteenth century, came from the racist
society. On the left side of the Figure 3, both the black and white people are shown; but, Walker emphasiz-
es the equation between the blacks and whites. The Latin Cross, which is placed on the upper left corner
of this artwork, a symbol of the judgment about this equation. However, on the right side, two slaves are
working under forcing from the lord. Aesthetically, this piece is not a sufficient artform, which is compared
to the other Walker’s artworks; but, This has a great message same as the equation and black’s identity. Ab-
solutely, this equation or inequality must be judged at the audience. In addition, the texture of the charcoal
creates the delusive image. By now, generally, Racism in Walker’s Artworks is analyzed.
The artistic works of Kara Walker engage in a dialogue with a number of things: race; art
history and the history of the parlor room; classroom history and the history of racial
struggle…Walker is less an artist of history, whether racial or artistic history, than a histo-
rian of fantasy. When then, does the writing stand? Like the visual art, her writing revels in
mocking the conventions of the nineteenth century (37; ch. 1).
Philippe Vergne has collected the Kara Walke’s artworks and said:

8. Rashidi 8
The Impact of Racism in Walker’s Artworks
As cited above, Kara Walker reports the relationship between the concept, Racism and identity,
and her artworks. As mentioned earlier, Walker’s pieces, which are based on the Racism, were created. She
creates the different media such as a painting, drawing, collage, installation, and sculpture to show this
concept; however, Walker repeats the real elements same as a black character in her artworks. Obviously,
these elements help to create the remarkable artforms and better understanding the concept of Racism.
The question is what’s an impact of Racism? Why does Kara Walker tend to use the racist theme?
The Obvious answer is her role as an African-American artist. According to Lott, Walker says: ”I am the
representative African-American woman in this multiculturalism class, and all of this burden has been
placed on me to be significant and historical and aware of my family’s history,... which was mostly white:
now what I’m talking about slavery again” (5), she suffers in pain, which came from the slavery and un-
equal between whites and blacks, and mentions the impact of Racism in the 19s and 20s society. Why does
Walker talk about slavery again? Ironically, she has a memory about the slavery, which came from the
cotton farmland located in the southern US. During the living in Georgia, she viewed some of the impacts
of Racism and the unfair regulations between whites and blacks in the contemporary society of the US; in-
deed, the social and political analysis of the Walker’s artworks relate to the concept of Racism and slavery.
With most of my work, there are elements of the real and semi-autobiographical, things
that affect me in a charged way, and her letter-writing campaign did. It raises so many
issues about what is it African-American artists are “about” aesthetically and socially, what
are our politics, and how important is it to present those politics in the guise of ART? The
way she went about the campaign got to me because it cut off communication (2).
Tommy Lott interviewed with Kara Walker to explore the theme of Racism in:

9. Rashidi 9
Social and Political Analysis of Walker’s Artworks
As noted above, Kara Walker says that she uses the pairs of opposites to show the contrast between
two elements such as the black and white colors. This is an ironic image of the dark and white people, who
live in the contemporary society of the US; in other words, this contrast helps to create the conceptual art-
work (a branch of the postmodern art to describe the specific concept), describing the concept of Racism as
well as slavery. Obviously, the physiognomic image is a great way to show the wall installation. The image
of the facial profile that represents the character, who contributes in the contemporary society.
As mentioned previously, Kara Walker emphasizes on the character of the “African-American
woman” and considers the work conditions of her. In Vergne’s Kara Walker: “Many black women seek op-
portunity in the workplace. Many black women are physically strong, and have active, healthy sex drives”
(373), she mentions the power of the black woman, includes the role of her in the current society. In fact,
Walker introduces herself as a feminist and human rights defender of the black weman. She strives to dis-
play this goal in her artworks such as the Figure 4.
Politically, Kara Walker seeks the equation between whites and blacks in the rest of the world;
moreover, she sends this message to the other countries to reach her goal as an equality at all. Therefore,
this equality is considered by the federal government of the US. The exhibitions at the “Art Institute of
Chicago and “San Francisco Museum of Modern Art” help to improve this politic.
The silhouette has its close cousins with the study of physiognomy, which was about
delineating the face and the intelligence of the sitter based on their facial profile…...It was
something considering small and benign that wants to be something….Because part of my
project has really been about simplifying, reducing to very easily graspable pairs of oppo-
sites, object/ground, figure/ground, black/white, sex/death, love/hate, good/bad (Lott 8).

10. Rashidi 10
What’s happening now? The racism can be eliminated? The solution of this case is examined by
Kara Walker. According to Lott, Walker says: “it’s more pronounced with these racial stereotypes because
there are serious charges, serious problems involved. So I think about it when I see the most well-adjusted
looking black girl spokesmodel on TV doing AT&T ads -- And what’s lurking in the background is… but
with the ordinary black woman“ (8), she addresses the Racism in TV commercials, and believes this con-
cept can be eliminated by the end of discrimination and segregation; in addition, the economic environ-
ment of the African-Americans is considered by Walker such as an unemployment and work conditions in
the current society.
In conclusion, Kara Walker has tried to eliminate of the Racism and challenged the psychological
actions and reactions between the white and black people. She has been achieved to demonstrate the Rac-
ism and slavery in the contemporary era. Indeed, the image of Racism in the american society is shown by
Walker sharply and vividly.

11. Works Cited
Budick, Ariella. “Kara Walker, Domino Sugar Factory, Brooklyn, New York - review”. FT.com, 25 May.
2014. Web. 30 Nov 2015.
Lott, Tommy. “Kara Walker Speaks: A Public Conversion On Racism, Art, And Politics”. Institute of Afri
can-American Affairs (IAAA). Personal interview. 25 Sep. 2000.
Rodrigues, Chris, Chris Garratt. Modernsim: A Graphic Guide. 2nd ed. US: Icon Books Ltd., 2013. Print.
Sweet Talk. Dir. Radcliffe Institute. Harvard University, 2014. Film. US.
Sollins, Susan. Art:21. US: Harry N Abbams Inc., 2003. Print. vol 2.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Kara Walker”, Britannica, 30 May. 2014. Web. 30 Nov 2015.
“Sculpture”. “Slavery”. “Social Science”. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. 2005. Print.
Vergne, Philippe, et all. Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love. US: Walker
Art Center, 2007. Print.
Walker, kara. Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred between the Dusky Thighs of One
Young Negress and Her Heart [detail]. 1994. Cut paper and adhesive on wall, 92*48 in.
Walker, kara. Slavery!, Slavery!, 25th Bienal de São Paulo. 2002. Cut paper and adhesive on wall, 12*85 ft.
Santa Monica, California.
Walker, kara. The moral arc of history ideally bends towards justice but just as soon as not curves back
around toward barbarism, sadism, and unrestrained chaos. 2010. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
Charcoal on paper, 70*80 in. Private collection.
Walker, kara. Creative Time, Brooklyn. 2014. Sculpture. New York
Walker, kara. Untitled. 2001–05. One of nine collages on paper, 16*11 1/2 in. Private collection.
Walker, kara. Freedom a Fable: A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times. US:
The Peter Norton Family, 1997. Print.
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12. Rashidi 12
Appendix 1
Figure 1: Walker, kara, Creative Time. Brooklyn. 2014. Sculpture. New York
Figure 2: Walker, kara, Slavery!, Slavery!, 25th Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo. 2002. Cut paper
and adhesive on wall, 12*85 ft. Santa Monica, California.
Figure 3: Walker, kara. The moral arc of history ideally bends towards justice but just as soon as not curves
back around toward barbarism, sadism, and unrestrained chaos. 2010. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

13. Rashidi 13
Appendix 2
Figure 4: Walker, kara. Untitled. 2001–05.
one of nine collages on paper, 16*11 1/2 in.
Figure 5: Walker, kara. Gone: An Historical Romance
of a Civil War as it Occurred between the Dusky
Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart [detail].
1994. Cut paper and adhesive on wall, 92*48 in.

14. Rashidi 14
Appendix 3
Keywords from “The New Encyclopedia Britannica”:
1- Sculpture- The two most important elements of sculpture-mass and space - are, of course, separable only
in thought. All Sculpture is made of a material substance that has mass and exists in three-dimensional
space. The mass of Sculpture is thus the solid, material, space occupying bulk that is contained within its
spaces (“Sculpture”).
2- Slavery - in order to term a person s salve. There have been two basic types of slavery throughout record-
ed history. The most common has been what is called household, patriarchal, or domestic slavery (“Slav-
ery”).
3- Social Science - which deal with human behavior in its social and cultural aspects, include the following
disciplines: anthropology, sociology, economics, political science (“Social Science”).