For this assignment we were meant to chose an artist from the list provided and create a response to a particular work of the artist or their entire body of work in any medium- either 2D or 3D. Our Professor urged us to think outside of the box and move away from our comfort zone.
The reason I chose Kara Walker was due to her unique style that she has managed to create a range of work in. She uses the skill of carving or scoring to cut the silhouette of human figures and depicts scenes with several characters. Being a African American women artist herself, her work concentrates around the subjects of racism as well as sexism and perception of the female body. I felt like her style would be different and challenging since it’s not down the mainstream route.
My response to her work involves another social political dimension and looks deeper into the differences between a man and women. I wanted to portray male domination, therefore I carved a man into each of the characters minds. In backward countries, sons are often urged to get an education while daughters are told to be stay at home mothers. I represented this by placing the female silhouette against an image of India (underdeveloped and orthodox) while the male silhouette is placed over New York-representing progress, advancement and a land of opportunities.
