The African-American artist Kara Walker has an unmistakable signature style: creating vast figure compositions using a cutout-silhouette technique. She uses this to create all kinds of images that teem with references to the evil history of racism in America. On a technical level, you're always seeing bold contrasts of forms framed by white space. Walker has tried this out in many media (paintings, drawings, shadow puppet shows, books), including etching. And here is a photo I took of a big etching of hers that I saw in the Tucson Museum of Art a few months ago: Kara Walker, Resurrection Stor y, etching, aquatint, spitbite, drypoint I had to take the photo at an angle to avoid the reflections on the glass. The subject matter is a little more mythical and less easy to interpret than much of her work. Perhaps it represents a group of black people pulling a goddess-like figure with African features out of the ocean, in recognition of their pre-slavery ancestry. from the pint of...
Artist Philip Hartigan talks about art, interviews other artists, and more