...calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea. I was transported.

Overview

In this film, Walker employs paper silhouettes, archival photographs, and other imagery to examine the history and long aftermath of slavery in the United States. Drawing on references to that history, the 2003 Darfur genocide, and the American South, she uses silhouettes, a nineteenth-century portrait technique, to reflect on issues of identity, race, and violence. The brightly colored backgrounds and country-inflected banjo soundtrack create a sense of spectacle that is at odds with the violence experienced by the figures, reminding viewers that images of black bodies in pain continue to be a source of entertainment under white supremacy. [Overview courtesy of The Whitney Museum]