This is a sculpture by the artist Kara Walker called "The Subtlety" or "the Marvelous Sugar Baby" The idea for this piece surfaced after Walker was told that the factory was closing and that it would be a good place to build something because of all the history that the Domino Sugar Factory held. When she stepped into the massive space she noticed how the sugar was still clinging to the walls of all the walls and molasses was dripping from the ceiling. According to creativetime.org, Walker was known for problematic, discomforting, and unresolved images so of course her sculpture had to stand for something more than just a memory of the sugar that was once made there. The idea came from tons of research where she discovered that many african slaves were forced to work in this sugar factories. Many of them were children. The sculptures spoke about the story of slavery and the triangular trade. The giant sphinx like figure was made to resemble african american women; with their full lips, protruding uvulas, and big butts. The small figurines were made to look like the children that worked for these companies. They were made of a caramel like substance that melted while the exhibit was open. Walker liked how temporary it made it seem considering that the piece was very sight specific. The mini sculptures were also made to resemble the dripping molasses that came from the walls and ceiling. The sphinx was carved out of styrofoam and then coated in a mixture of sugar and water. This piece was meant to stand for so much more than just the remembering of the sugar factory. It was made to make us open our eyes and learn to look at the world in a new way. To end this post I thought I would leave you with some food for thought said by Kara Walker herself, “looking forward without any kind of deep historical feeling of connectedness is no good…She’s powerful… iconic in a way and she is so monumental, so unexpected, if I’ve done the job well then she gains her power by upsetting expectations one after the other.”
Very nice writing about the reasons the artist made this work- BUT the assignment was also to write about the visual elements- and there are so many here- color (or lack of!), light, shapes and TEXTURE! You have a lot of great observations and ideas, make sure you read what the assignment is asking too.
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