Prose from Poetry Magazine
Images from Kara Walker: Back of Hand
BY Kara Walker
BOH by Kara Walker, 2020. Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and sumi-e ink on paper, 11.25 x 15.125 inches.
Blue by Kara Walker, 2020. Graphite, ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper, 12 x 16 inches. From the ten-part series Book of Hours (Paradise), 2020.
Untitled by Kara Walker, 2020. Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and sumi-e ink on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches.
Tar pit by Kara Walker, 2021. Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and sumi-e ink on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches.
Shadows by Kara Walker, 2020. Graphite, ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper, 16 x 12 inches. From the ten-part series Book of Hours (Paradise), 2020.
Wokey Wokey by Kara Walker, 2021. Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and sumi-e ink on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches.
Feast of Famine by Kara Walker, 2021. Flashe, ink, cut paper on paper, 139.75 x 133.75 inches.
The Ballad of How We Got Here by Kara Walker, 2021. Flashe, ink, cut paper on paper, 124.5 x 139.75 inches.
The artwork presented here is part of the “Kara Walker: Back of Hand” portfolio in the April 2024 issue. Artwork © Kara Walker, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and Sprüth Magers.
New York-based artist Kara Walker (she/her) is best known for her silhouetted figures that candidly investigate race, gender, sexuality, and violence. Her figures have appeared in numerous exhibitions worldwide, including the collections of the Kunstmuseum Basel’s Kupferstichkabinett (Department of Prints and Drawings); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art; the Metropolitan Museum...