Kara Walker

Ask yourself how does she use storytelling with her cut-outs and the idea of the cyclorama?  

She puts the cut-outs, in a sequence and then she put other images on it, to demonstrate the sentiments. This makes us felling the emotions of this particular event. She creates illusions in her painting and cut-outs, so then we could see the past and the present in the same image. We should be able to see the death in her cyclorama, but it’s bringing us to put our self at that time and live the emotions and the feeling of these events.

Our identity is constantly at work, on the move, and it is not static.  Kara Walker identifies herself to certain stories.  Does she change them, and if so, why?  

Yes, she changes the certain stories, but not at all. She try to change it to make an illusions in this epic moment, or to put some images to demonstrate another part of this event, like the political problems, just to put a correlation between the story and the world event. She identifies herself in certain stories, because she put herself in the context and in the felling of the story.

Now, for your journal, tell the reader how Kara Walker brings together storytelling and her sense of identity.

She takes a story, but not only the facts, but the sense of the identity too.  In fact, she put some details to express the sentiment of the people of the story. It is important to understand this step to see the real event on her art, so all part of it is a part of the identity of the storytelling. She tries to figure out the identity of what she makes to make it unique and special for the viewer.  So briefly she put her sense of identity in her art, so it creates a storytelling more influent.

Then, tell the reader how storytelling is part of your identity.  We all have stories that have been told to us, by family, by friends, and we learn from these stories, we were changed by these stories.  Select one and relate how it is part of your identity.

Two years ago, I had an accident and I broke my neck. Since this time, I can’t do any sport, and I was really sportive. I was very depressive to have this handicap for the rest of my life. A friend told me a story about a person who have the same type of accident, and that today he is able to do many physical (not hard) thing. In this story the person use a lot of determination and perseverance. So this person inspired myself, and helped me to pass over this event. For sure today, I can’t do many physical thing, but I’m in life…