Kara Walker Biography Essay

Kara Walker -- an African American artist -- creates a space for race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity through her art. Walker, according to bio.com, was born in Stockton California, during the fall of 1969. Where does a seasoned artist like Walker draw her inspiration? Many have speculated that her inspirations came from her father, who was also a painter, and influenced Walker to become a painter herself at the age of the three. But, In a report by the Wall Street Journal’s 2014 Featured Innovator Awards, it was said that Walker’s first artistic inspirations began with Antebellum South. Something that was clearly present in her piece she debuted in September of 1994 -- Slavery! Slavery!
It was in the 1980s when Walker’s father Larry, and their family, moved out east to Atlanta, Georgia. As you could imagine, it was a very difficult place for an art-focused adolescent from California, to have grown up in. Walker began with, “...creating fine art…” in her early years, but she eventually led to playing with more avant-garde art styles than she was used to. In fact, as stated by Walker on bio.com, she makes reference to …show more content…
She took the opportunity to create something larger than what every other gallery wants her signature “cut-out silhouette pieces”. The old Domino’s Sugar Factory is encrusted with Brown Sugar and Molasses all over the floor. Sugar-refining process creates this left over residue Molasses brown and sticky. Which is also associated with black and brown people. She was influenced by many different images like: slaves harvesting sugar, depiction of African American woman labeled as brown sugar, the thickness of molasses, the need for sweet, and a book called Sweetness and the Power. She played with the opposites of the brand sugar being white and pure vs. the idea of the leftover molasses being sticky and