Kara Walker and Everyday

Kara Walker, Slavery! Slavery! ...(Detail), 1997, Cut Paper and adhesive on wall,
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/finch10-5-07_detail.asp?picnum=1 

To be honest, I am not very familiar with Kara Walker’s subject in her art; discrimination in gender, race, and violence. I have never thought deeply about these issues, although I could have, once while living in America, since I am considered an inferiority in gender and a minority in race. I do not think I have experienced any such prejudices. Although I admire her works in aesthetical aspect and in her way of communication through art, I thought her ideas were out of synch with the times. Ku Klux Klan, gender and race discrimination, and physical violence and murder seemed such an old history, stories in the past, so when I learned of Walker’s works, I thought she was an impulse-provoker and a pessimist. Surely, if people still think that at this time in our society, then the society would not have improved after the Civil War, I thought.

            But how wrong was I. She targeted exactly what I was thinking, only in a surprisingly fresh direction with sincere honesty and care for the subject. Her work was not about dwelling in the past and reliving in it, but everything else but that- about reflecting on it and opening the people’s eyes wider. Before her talk, the art columnist read a quote from Walker, and the quote said, “…I was making a history book, not from a victor’s view, but from the victim’s view.” When I heard that line, I realized right away what Walker was doing with her art. That seems like something everyone who has fallen as the victim in the history want to do. For instance, I have read numerous times about Cold Wars in my American high school, and how many Americans have died and how General McArthur has lead the wars to success. But from what I remember from my Korean elementary and middle school, these wars, especially Korean war, were not about the victory of America and democracy, but about the unforgettable thorn that is deeply embedded in the thousands of years of Vietnamese and Korean history.  Korean schools taught their students that this section in Korean history is the most traumatic and painful past where one nation suffered from separation of families and brothers fighting against each other for the Western countries’ political ideology. So when I saw Walker’s attempt to rewrite the American history in the African American’s stand, I was very touched, and I stayed in awe the rest of her talk. I could not hold my admiration for her effort and care for her own race.

Kara Walker, The Other called Burn speaks for itself,
Cut Paper and adhesive on wall,
http://www.jimandellen.org/feministblog/432.html

            Later when Walker was talking, she said “…it is the environment where only Western Art history is admitted” when she first came into the art industry. So she made art about African Americans, and their history. And her story makes a huge impact, like a gong transferring its sound wave to thousands of miles across, all throughout the globe. How exciting is that? This kind of story telling is something I always think about as well. I want to make something that is true to my blood and race, but I cannot imagine what I could do to make this message not just about me and my own race, and I wonder how I could expand my story to relate to not just other Koreans, but to all other ethnicity as well. 

            So when thinking about sending across my standing as one group of humanity and telling out story, I think walker's topic is relatable to anyone, not just those who make art or read history. We often forget our own history and think it futile at present time. However, each and every day we talk of history, about what we did and when we did, and from those we learn and move forward. Even though our history might not be something grand and newsworthy, or to be written in a book to be everlasting, we can cherish our present moment and let others know how we as an individual live our life. Retelling our story is a remarkable way to be reminded of now and today. Through alliterating our story and listening to others', we mature, not just in critical thinking skills, but in the aspect of cultural development as well. Whether we know it or not, we live by our history. It could be something painful like Walker’s dark time of discrimination against black, and by bring it up, we experience that pain again, but it is a very meaningful and necessary message that we can use. Story telling could be the most rewarding activity we can do, a privilege we have among other animal species, to grow ourselves.  

Kara Walker, Gone, An Historical 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, 13x50 ft.
http://tang.skidmore.edu/index.php/posts/view/19/

Now, in everyday, we are aware of our race and gender, and while we tell our story, some unconscious decisions and feelings evoke us to speak in certain way to defend or reveal our almost habitual thoughts. We try to hide or cover them, or talk about them in an indirect way, like the silhouetted figures that Walker makes. Among Walker’s silhouetted figures, I am attached to this one girl with voluminous dress, who is about to kiss a gentleman-or-not. If I see beneath her dress, I see two little feet with pointy shoes right under her. Who could that be? This is a very scandalous scene and I wonder if the girl knows that there’s someone else who sees her inside. The big tree next to this intimate couple has plentiful leaves to cover all but one branch, but if I look closely, a part of the leaves silhouette looks like a profile of a man hiding in the tree, peeking at this couple. This is the reason why her silhouette figures are very successful. I loved her idea of making her subjects in shadows, or silhouettes to not directly show the stories that could have been too vulgar and too direct to overpower her real messages. If I picture Walker’s work in a real painting with contours and colors, it would have not been as strong as her current work. The figures’ subjectivity is more clearly shown and it was very believable that these figures have lived once upon a time, somewhere we do not really know of. Her literal depiction of black and white, and black figures in white background also suggests the clear distinction of American skin color. This is indirect but very clear to see. Walker’s indirect talking was brilliant.  

            Later when it was Q&A time, someone asked Walker if she feels the strong emotion as the questioner did when she makes her art, and Walker said that she really enjoys the strong anger and powerful feelings that overwhelms her. That’s when I promised myself that I would make something that could touch myself and make me feel something. To make it believable to others, I must believe in my work as well. By the end of Kara Walker’s talk, I gained the eyes to discover the humane things in inhumane things, an honest heart to pound for my instinctive thoughts, and a great story to remember and apply to my everyday life.