Kara Walker, American (b. 1969)

Kara Walker’s work is characterized by silhouettes that explore the intersection between race, gender, and sexuality. She explains, "the silhouette was a near perfect solution to a complex project that I set for myself . . . to try and uncover the often subtle and uncomfortable ways racism, and racist and sexist stereotypes, influence and script our everyday lives." Meant to expose the viewer to the uncomfortable truths of America’s racial past Walker says, “My works are explicitly erotic, shameless. I would like visitors to stand in front of my work and feel just a little bit ashamed." Her imagery is sometimes shocking, sometimes violent, sometimes deliberately cartoonish, but whether working in large cutouts or small book-size images, Walker’s silhouettes are a commentary on how prejudice and racial connotations simplify a person into being a stereotype—a shadow version of who they really are.

Born in California, Walker moved to Georgia as a young teenager and the shock of prevalent racism affected her deeply. The experiences she had there had a huge influence on how she saw the issue of race, being black, and how many things influence the portrayal of self. Walker earned her B.F.A. at Atlanta University in 1991 and her M.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994, and by this time had found her iconic style. She was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation scholarship in 1999, and in 2002 she represented the United States at the 25th Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil. Kara Walker currently lives and works in New York as a professor at Columbia University.