7. Inverting Silhouettes (Kara Walker)

INVERTING SILHOUETTES INSPIRED BY KARA WALKER

I am interested in Kara Walker's piece “Submission” (2016)(Right hand side)

I love the way that the details of the image are INSIDE the silhouette, rather than surrounding it.

To me, it appears that "Submission" is a window into the person's personality / past / thoughts.

The simplicity of the silhouette allows you to focus on the details inside, without focusing on the identity of the person, just the raw imagery.

I wanted to experiment with a similar concept, instead using projections of nature. See below.

Inverted, like this, the tree is no longer recognisable as a tree. The figures are still recognisable, although, the sun now looks like a moon, which changes the connotations drastically.

The dark background makes the piece slightly uneasy, in my eyes, because of the implications of meeting at nighttime. It is immediately more suspicious and mysterious. Especially due to the horned child, and "dead body" on the right hand side.

Despite the implications of night, the roses and flowers are bright pink, happy, and positive, which could be confusing to the viewer. There is a lot to look at. The piece is busy.

Below, the pieces are even busier, as I made the flowers smaller (so that more show) and brighter too. More noticeable. Standing far away, the figures are the most noticeable part of the piece. But standing up close, the flowers draw my eye specifically, and are very distracting.

The blue tones are eerie, and almost remind me of an underwater scene due to the darkness and nature at the bottom of the piece, almost like seaweed or coral in the deep sea.

This piece is my favourite of them all, because there is a perfect blend between the silhouettes, and the nature, that makes them both recognisable, whilst still provoking the viewer to look deeply into the patterns inside the silhouettes. It is not immediately clear that the patterns are made up of flowers (in my opinion), although, the patterns are organic and gentle, which lulls the viewer into a false sense of security. (Which is shattered, as they look more deeply into the silhouettes and their oddities.)

I enjoyed these experiments, as I feel that it brings a whole new life to silhouettes, that are usually expected to be simple and flat. These silhouettes are full of life and depth, due to the extra layer of colour and pattern I have added. It adds a new dimension to the viewing experience, as well as changing the connotations of the piece itself.