“I don't know how much I believe in redemptive stories, even though people want them and strive for them.”

Kara Walker was born on November 22, 1969 in Stockton, California. She was the first African American to rise to fame because of her large paper silhouettes to show social issues surrounding gender, race, and black history. In 1944 her work appeared in a new talent show at the drawing center in New York. In 1997 she received a John D. and a Catherine T. MacArthur foundation “genius grant.” Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. When she was 3 years old she knew she wanted to be an artist. Her style of art is avant-garde, trying to tell a story or a statement than beauty and perfection. In 1999 she stated