Deborah Roberts, US

Deborah Roberts was born in 1962 and is based in Austin, Texas.

Combining collage with mixed media, Deborah Roberts’s figurative works depict the complexity of Black subjecthood, redefine beauty, and critique ideals and stereotypes. Exploring themes of race, identity and gender politics, Roberts is renowned for creating semi-autobiographical portraits of African American girls and boys, primarily through her distinctive use of collage. Roberts imbues her figures with agency, thus providing them with unique and unfixed identities pointing toward their complex inner and outer lives. Roberts’s work mixes found imagery with hand-painted or drawn elements to create hybrid figures that skirt the boundaries of the real, and challenge notions of authority in image making. With collage, Roberts seeks to create a more expansive and inclusive view of the Black culture experience.