studio international
Kara Walker
PainterKnown for:
silhouette cut-outs addressing race and American history; A Subtlety (2014)
Education:
Atlanta College of Art (BFA, 1991); Rhode Island School of Design (MFA, painting, 1994)
Kara Walker developed a practice of large-scale silhouette cut-outs - antebellum scenes of extreme racial and sexual violence, drawn from the visual culture of the American South - that generated immediate controversy when she first showed them at age 24 in 1994. Her A Subtlety (2014), a monumental sphinx made of sugar installed in the Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn before its demolition, drew more than 130,000 visitors in two months. She has also worked in film, shadow puppetry, and book illustration.
Kara Walker's Gear List(2)
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Connection note
Uses sumi ink alongside graphite, gouache, watercolor, and charcoal in her large-scale drawings on paper
Product description
A carbon-based drawing ink made from fine soot particles (lampblack or carbon black) suspended in water with a binding agent, traditionally shellac. India ink dries to a permanent, waterproof, deep black finish and works with brushes, dip pens, and technical pens. It has been used for writing and drawing for thousands of years across Asian and Western traditions.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
