web01.fireside.fm Sun, 24 May 2026 13:20:10 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Austin Art Talk - Episodes Tagged with “Deborah Roberts” https://www.austinarttalk.com/tags/deborah%20roberts Fri, 04 Oct 2019 10:30:00 -0500 The goal of the podcast is to facilitate connections with and to learn from the successes, struggles, life experience, and wisdom of the people featured, most of whom live and create in Austin, Texas. The honest conversational flow of these weekly long form interviews lends itself to some really great insights and information that is available to anyone who wants to listen. Join us to explore the origins, stories, lessons, lives and work of those in our community who are at the forefront of creative expression. The podcast is hosted by photographer, art enthusiast and collector, Scott David Gordon. en-us episodic In depth conversations and wisdom from Austin artists and creatives, about life, work, and creativity. Scott David Gordon The goal of the podcast is to facilitate connections with and to learn from the successes, struggles, life experience, and wisdom of the people featured, most of whom live and create in Austin, Texas. The honest conversational flow of these weekly long form interviews lends itself to some really great insights and information that is available to anyone who wants to listen. Join us to explore the origins, stories, lessons, lives and work of those in our community who are at the forefront of creative expression. The podcast is hosted by photographer, art enthusiast and collector, Scott David Gordon. no austin artist, podcast, austin art podcast, austin texas, austin art, interviews, local artist, conversations with artists Scott David Gordon podcast@austinarttalk.com Episode 71: Deborah Roberts https://www.austinarttalk.com/71 7e904ec4-6d97-44bf-8766-c1e6a1b2faa1 Fri, 04 Oct 2019 10:30:00 -0500 Scott David Gordon 71 Deborah Roberts full Scott David Gordon In this highly anticipated followup to my first interview with Deborah from March of 2018, we sit down to talk about all of the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of her amazing career over the last year and a half since we last spoke. From grants to residencies to gallery representation in Los Angeles and London, it has been a will ride. But don’t think she is an overnight success. Her work ethic and passion have carried her though over four decades of pursing art to where she is now. As they say, luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Deborah shares how her work has been evolving and where it is headed, her studio practice, as well as giving us a peek into some ideas for her upcoming one women show at The Contemporary Austin a year from now. I think Deborah proves that hard work, integrity, and persistence can change your life and the lives of others in a positive way. 1:10:35 no <p><strong><em>"I’m going to continue to push my work forward. The work has always come first. It has to be the work, because it’s no good if it’s not. That’s my philosophy. I don’t push that on anyone else. That’s just always been my thing. That the work has to do what it needs to do."</em></strong><br> <br><br> In this highly anticipated followup to my first interview with Deborah from March of 2018, we sit down to talk about all of the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of her amazing career over the last year and a half since we last spoke. From grants to residencies to gallery representation in Los Angeles and London, it has been a will ride. But don’t think she is an overnight success. Her work ethic and passion have carried her though over four decades of pursing art to where she is now. As they say, luck is when opportunity meets preparation. </p> <p>Deborah shares how her work has been evolving and where it is headed, her studio practice, as well as giving us a peek into some ideas for her upcoming one women show at The Contemporary Austin a year from now. I think Deborah proves that hard work, integrity, and persistence can change your life and the lives of others in a positive way. She is even planning to start a foundation to help other artists get the help that she so dearly needed to grow her career early on. If you haven heard our first conversation that covers the history of her life and career before last year, have a listen to Episode 19.</p> <p><br><br> <em><strong>Artist statment and Bio courtesy of Deborah's website.</strong></em></p> <p><strong>ARTIST STATEMENT</strong></p> <p>Whether I was aware of it or not, otherness has been at the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my artistic career. My early ideals of race and beauty were shaped by and linked through paintings of renaissance artists and photographs in fashion magazines. Those images were mythical, heroic, beautiful, and powerful and embodied a particular status that was not afforded equally to anyone I knew. Those images influenced the way I viewed myself and other African Americans, which led me to investigate the way our identities have been imagined and shaped by societal interpretations of beauty. Having one’s identity dismantled, marginalized and regulated to non-human status demands action. This led me to critically engage image-making in art history and pop-culture, and ultimately grapple with whatever power and authority these images have over the female figure.</p> <p>My art practice takes on social commentary, critiquing perceptions of ideal beauty. Stereotypes and myths are challenged in my work; I create a dialogue between the ideas of inclusion, dignity, consumption, and subjectivity by addressing beauty in the form of the ideal woman, the Venus. By challenging Venus, my work challenges the notion of universal beauty—making room for women of color who are not included in this definition.</p> <p>Wading through my work, you must look through multiple layers, double meanings and symbols. My process combines found and manipulated images with hand drawn and painted details to create hybrid figures. These figures often take the form of young girls. I’m interested in the way young girls symbolize vulnerability but also a naïve strength. The girls who populate my work, while subject to societal pressures and projected images, are still unfixed in their identity. Each girl has character and agency to find their own way amidst the complicated narratives of American, African American and art history. </p> <p><strong>BIO</strong></p> <p>Deborah Roberts (American, b. 1962) is a mixed media artist whose work challenges the notion of ideal beauty. Her work has been exhibited internationally across the USA and Europe. Her work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; The Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas; Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey; and The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York. Roberts is the recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Grant (2018), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2016) and a Ginsberg-Klaus Award Fellowship (2014). She received her MFA from Syracuse University, New York. She lives and works in Austin, Texas. Roberts is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. <br> <br><br> <strong>Some of the subjects we discuss:</strong></p> <p>The first interview<br> New studio<br> Since the last interview <br> Painting vs Collage<br> Romantic/Americana<br> Flat and fixed<br> Work about boys<br> George Stinney<br> Where the work goes<br> Tamir Rice shooting<br> Evolving the work<br> Boys with pink shirts<br> Using fist imagery<br> Do you see the subtlety<br> Sculpture work/Books<br> Lot’s of work to be done<br> The first year/Car analogy<br> Taking control/Staying true<br> People working with her<br> Keeping up the level<br> Missing women<br> Volta/Being prepared<br> Having inventory<br> Who gets the work<br> Meeting new people<br> Paying the bills<br> Time to grow the work<br> The work was fracturing<br> Fear of changing<br> Grants for artists<br> A little bit of help<br> Not an overnight success<br> It’s not easy/Stress<br> Hours a week<br> Rauschenberg Residency<br> Studio manager<br> Contemporary installation<br> Why not be preachy<br> Getting back to people<br> New book release<br> Big Goals<br> Talk at Blanton<br> <br><br> <strong><em>Upcoming Events</em></strong><br> <br></p> <p><strong>October 4, 2019 6pm-8pm</strong></p> <p><strong><em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/704608353284801/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Book Release/Signing of "Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi"</a></em></strong><br> George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center<br> 1165 Angelina St, Austin, Texas 78702<br> <br><br> <strong>October 8th, 2019 6:30pm</strong></p> <p><a href="https://54061.blackbaudhosting.com/54061/tickets?tab=2&amp;txobjid=96ab230d-5226-4669-a7de-fa5c891fcb28&amp;fbclid=IwAR3JJAPW80Xbd9gyo1rBtpgpzuqtJoe84HLKmIjM0U-Z9sqo4hAeg8-6_hc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><strong><em>Artist Talk: Deborah Roberts and Robert A. Pruitt</em></strong></a></p> <p><strong>This event is free to the public but pre-registration is recommended.</strong></p> <p>Blanton Museum of Art<br> The University of Texas at Austin<br> 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Austin, TX 78712</p> <p><br><br> Banner image - Deborah Roberts<br> LET THEM BE CHILDREN 120" x 45"<br> Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 2018</p> <p>This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.</p> <p>Intro music generously provided by <a href="http://stankillian.com/main/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Stan Killian</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.austinarttalk.com/supportpodcast" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Support this podcast.</a> </p> austin art, austin art podcast, austin artist, austin texas, conversations with artists, interview, interviews, local artist, podcast "I’m going to continue to push my work forward. The work has always come first. It has to be the work, because it’s no good if it’s not. That’s my philosophy. I don’t push that on anyone else. That’s just always been my thing. That the work has to do what it needs to do."


In this highly anticipated followup to my first interview with Deborah from March of 2018, we sit down to talk about all of the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of her amazing career over the last year and a half since we last spoke. From grants to residencies to gallery representation in Los Angeles and London, it has been a will ride. But don’t think she is an overnight success. Her work ethic and passion have carried her though over four decades of pursing art to where she is now. As they say, luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

Deborah shares how her work has been evolving and where it is headed, her studio practice, as well as giving us a peek into some ideas for her upcoming one women show at The Contemporary Austin a year from now. I think Deborah proves that hard work, integrity, and persistence can change your life and the lives of others in a positive way. She is even planning to start a foundation to help other artists get the help that she so dearly needed to grow her career early on. If you haven heard our first conversation that covers the history of her life and career before last year, have a listen to Episode 19.



Artist statment and Bio courtesy of Deborah's website.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Whether I was aware of it or not, otherness has been at the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my artistic career. My early ideals of race and beauty were shaped by and linked through paintings of renaissance artists and photographs in fashion magazines. Those images were mythical, heroic, beautiful, and powerful and embodied a particular status that was not afforded equally to anyone I knew. Those images influenced the way I viewed myself and other African Americans, which led me to investigate the way our identities have been imagined and shaped by societal interpretations of beauty. Having one’s identity dismantled, marginalized and regulated to non-human status demands action. This led me to critically engage image-making in art history and pop-culture, and ultimately grapple with whatever power and authority these images have over the female figure.

My art practice takes on social commentary, critiquing perceptions of ideal beauty. Stereotypes and myths are challenged in my work; I create a dialogue between the ideas of inclusion, dignity, consumption, and subjectivity by addressing beauty in the form of the ideal woman, the Venus. By challenging Venus, my work challenges the notion of universal beauty—making room for women of color who are not included in this definition.

Wading through my work, you must look through multiple layers, double meanings and symbols. My process combines found and manipulated images with hand drawn and painted details to create hybrid figures. These figures often take the form of young girls. I’m interested in the way young girls symbolize vulnerability but also a naïve strength. The girls who populate my work, while subject to societal pressures and projected images, are still unfixed in their identity. Each girl has character and agency to find their own way amidst the complicated narratives of American, African American and art history.

BIO

Deborah Roberts (American, b. 1962) is a mixed media artist whose work challenges the notion of ideal beauty. Her work has been exhibited internationally across the USA and Europe. Her work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; The Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas; Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey; and The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York. Roberts is the recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Grant (2018), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2016) and a Ginsberg-Klaus Award Fellowship (2014). She received her MFA from Syracuse University, New York. She lives and works in Austin, Texas. Roberts is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.


Some of the subjects we discuss:

The first interview
New studio
Since the last interview
Painting vs Collage
Romantic/Americana
Flat and fixed
Work about boys
George Stinney
Where the work goes
Tamir Rice shooting
Evolving the work
Boys with pink shirts
Using fist imagery
Do you see the subtlety
Sculpture work/Books
Lot’s of work to be done
The first year/Car analogy
Taking control/Staying true
People working with her
Keeping up the level
Missing women
Volta/Being prepared
Having inventory
Who gets the work
Meeting new people
Paying the bills
Time to grow the work
The work was fracturing
Fear of changing
Grants for artists
A little bit of help
Not an overnight success
It’s not easy/Stress
Hours a week
Rauschenberg Residency
Studio manager
Contemporary installation
Why not be preachy
Getting back to people
New book release
Big Goals
Talk at Blanton


Upcoming Events

October 4, 2019 6pm-8pm

Book Release/Signing of "Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi"
George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center
1165 Angelina St, Austin, Texas 78702


October 8th, 2019 6:30pm

Artist Talk: Deborah Roberts and Robert A. Pruitt

This event is free to the public but pre-registration is recommended.

Blanton Museum of Art
The University of Texas at Austin
200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Austin, TX 78712



Banner image - Deborah Roberts
LET THEM BE CHILDREN 120" x 45"
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 2018

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast.

Links:

]]> "I’m going to continue to push my work forward. The work has always come first. It has to be the work, because it’s no good if it’s not. That’s my philosophy. I don’t push that on anyone else. That’s just always been my thing. That the work has to do what it needs to do."


In this highly anticipated followup to my first interview with Deborah from March of 2018, we sit down to talk about all of the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of her amazing career over the last year and a half since we last spoke. From grants to residencies to gallery representation in Los Angeles and London, it has been a will ride. But don’t think she is an overnight success. Her work ethic and passion have carried her though over four decades of pursing art to where she is now. As they say, luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

Deborah shares how her work has been evolving and where it is headed, her studio practice, as well as giving us a peek into some ideas for her upcoming one women show at The Contemporary Austin a year from now. I think Deborah proves that hard work, integrity, and persistence can change your life and the lives of others in a positive way. She is even planning to start a foundation to help other artists get the help that she so dearly needed to grow her career early on. If you haven heard our first conversation that covers the history of her life and career before last year, have a listen to Episode 19.



Artist statment and Bio courtesy of Deborah's website.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Whether I was aware of it or not, otherness has been at the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my artistic career. My early ideals of race and beauty were shaped by and linked through paintings of renaissance artists and photographs in fashion magazines. Those images were mythical, heroic, beautiful, and powerful and embodied a particular status that was not afforded equally to anyone I knew. Those images influenced the way I viewed myself and other African Americans, which led me to investigate the way our identities have been imagined and shaped by societal interpretations of beauty. Having one’s identity dismantled, marginalized and regulated to non-human status demands action. This led me to critically engage image-making in art history and pop-culture, and ultimately grapple with whatever power and authority these images have over the female figure.

My art practice takes on social commentary, critiquing perceptions of ideal beauty. Stereotypes and myths are challenged in my work; I create a dialogue between the ideas of inclusion, dignity, consumption, and subjectivity by addressing beauty in the form of the ideal woman, the Venus. By challenging Venus, my work challenges the notion of universal beauty—making room for women of color who are not included in this definition.

Wading through my work, you must look through multiple layers, double meanings and symbols. My process combines found and manipulated images with hand drawn and painted details to create hybrid figures. These figures often take the form of young girls. I’m interested in the way young girls symbolize vulnerability but also a naïve strength. The girls who populate my work, while subject to societal pressures and projected images, are still unfixed in their identity. Each girl has character and agency to find their own way amidst the complicated narratives of American, African American and art history.

BIO

Deborah Roberts (American, b. 1962) is a mixed media artist whose work challenges the notion of ideal beauty. Her work has been exhibited internationally across the USA and Europe. Her work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; The Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas; Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey; and The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York. Roberts is the recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Grant (2018), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2016) and a Ginsberg-Klaus Award Fellowship (2014). She received her MFA from Syracuse University, New York. She lives and works in Austin, Texas. Roberts is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.


Some of the subjects we discuss:

The first interview
New studio
Since the last interview
Painting vs Collage
Romantic/Americana
Flat and fixed
Work about boys
George Stinney
Where the work goes
Tamir Rice shooting
Evolving the work
Boys with pink shirts
Using fist imagery
Do you see the subtlety
Sculpture work/Books
Lot’s of work to be done
The first year/Car analogy
Taking control/Staying true
People working with her
Keeping up the level
Missing women
Volta/Being prepared
Having inventory
Who gets the work
Meeting new people
Paying the bills
Time to grow the work
The work was fracturing
Fear of changing
Grants for artists
A little bit of help
Not an overnight success
It’s not easy/Stress
Hours a week
Rauschenberg Residency
Studio manager
Contemporary installation
Why not be preachy
Getting back to people
New book release
Big Goals
Talk at Blanton


Upcoming Events

October 4, 2019 6pm-8pm

Book Release/Signing of "Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi"
George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center
1165 Angelina St, Austin, Texas 78702


October 8th, 2019 6:30pm

Artist Talk: Deborah Roberts and Robert A. Pruitt

This event is free to the public but pre-registration is recommended.

Blanton Museum of Art
The University of Texas at Austin
200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Austin, TX 78712



Banner image - Deborah Roberts
LET THEM BE CHILDREN 120" x 45"
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 2018

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast.

Links:

]]> Episode 19: Deborah Roberts - Dedicated to the Work https://www.austinarttalk.com/19 47d73d87-cfcd-43e2-8743-1eaecf593788 Sat, 10 Mar 2018 05:00:00 -0600 Scott David Gordon 19 Deborah Roberts - Dedicated to the Work full Scott David Gordon Deborah Roberts has had an incredible year with sold out shows all over the country and lots of press praising the her work and giving credit where it is due. She is best known for creating mixed-media portraits of young black girls, aged 8-10, that ask the viewer to consider how the subjects beauty has been imagined: by art history, pop culture, American history, and black culture. It's important work and it resonates with a lot of people. 1:04:32 no <p><em><strong>"I’ve always dedicated my life to the work, and what ever the work needed that’s what I did."</strong></em></p> <p>It has been an incredible year for Austin based artist <strong>Deborah Roberts</strong>. But after decades of hard work and scholarship it’s not really a surprise. She was already an established artist long before deciding to go back to school to get her MFA in 2014, to study and find the language and direction for her new work. Her imagery started out in a very romantic Americana style but after a time that didn’t completely match the reality of what she was feeling and seeing in the world. The work needed to change. After finishing school she gave herself two years to succeed in art before having to give up once and for all. Then she received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 2016. For the first time she could spend a whole year completely focused on her art full time and create without fear. What has followed is sold out shows all over the country and lots of press praising the work and giving her credit which was overdue. </p> <p>With a focus in collage, painting, mixed media/installation, and text, Roberts is best known for creating portraits of young black girls, aged 8-10, that ask the viewer to consider how their beauty has been imagined: by art history, pop culture, American history, and black culture. And when and why do these young vulnerable girls have to put on their gloves and start fighting battles? It's important work and it resonates with a lot of people.</p> <p>Deborah is a delight to be around and the interview was a lot of fun. We go all the way back to her beginnings in art and work our way to the present. She then dissects the meaning and language of the work and talks about the future and her new found fame and power.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>Some of the subjects we discuss:</strong></p> <p>Drawing as a kid<br> Forced busing<br> Magnet School/Gifted and Talented<br> First sold out show<br> Black Americana romantic painting style<br> Norman Rockwell<br> Work becoming more abstract/complicated<br> The never-ending summer break<br> Feeling the need for more scholarship<br> Going back to school/graduate degree<br> Finding the language for you work<br> Starting small<br> Art Palace show<br> Getting a job/struggling<br> Avoiding the trap/quitting<br> Two year agreement <br> Pollock-Krasner grant year<br> Creating work without fear<br> Volta NY/selling out everything<br> Where have you been?<br> An incredible year/new notoriety<br> Listening to the work<br> Slowing down and scaling up<br> Incorporating more painting<br> The structure of a piece<br> Four freedoms project<br> New found power</p> <p><br><br> <strong>Banner image components by Deborah Roberts <br> (left to right) Betwixt, Untitled, It's All Good, <br> Power Has No Use For Truth, Red Stripes.</strong> </p> "I’ve always dedicated my life to the work, and what ever the work needed that’s what I did."

It has been an incredible year for Austin based artist Deborah Roberts. But after decades of hard work and scholarship it’s not really a surprise. She was already an established artist long before deciding to go back to school to get her MFA in 2014, to study and find the language and direction for her new work. Her imagery started out in a very romantic Americana style but after a time that didn’t completely match the reality of what she was feeling and seeing in the world. The work needed to change. After finishing school she gave herself two years to succeed in art before having to give up once and for all. Then she received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 2016. For the first time she could spend a whole year completely focused on her art full time and create without fear. What has followed is sold out shows all over the country and lots of press praising the work and giving her credit which was overdue.

With a focus in collage, painting, mixed media/installation, and text, Roberts is best known for creating portraits of young black girls, aged 8-10, that ask the viewer to consider how their beauty has been imagined: by art history, pop culture, American history, and black culture. And when and why do these young vulnerable girls have to put on their gloves and start fighting battles? It's important work and it resonates with a lot of people.

Deborah is a delight to be around and the interview was a lot of fun. We go all the way back to her beginnings in art and work our way to the present. She then dissects the meaning and language of the work and talks about the future and her new found fame and power.


Some of the subjects we discuss:

Drawing as a kid
Forced busing
Magnet School/Gifted and Talented
First sold out show
Black Americana romantic painting style
Norman Rockwell
Work becoming more abstract/complicated
The never-ending summer break
Feeling the need for more scholarship
Going back to school/graduate degree
Finding the language for you work
Starting small
Art Palace show
Getting a job/struggling
Avoiding the trap/quitting
Two year agreement
Pollock-Krasner grant year
Creating work without fear
Volta NY/selling out everything
Where have you been?
An incredible year/new notoriety
Listening to the work
Slowing down and scaling up
Incorporating more painting
The structure of a piece
Four freedoms project
New found power



Banner image components by Deborah Roberts
(left to right) Betwixt, Untitled, It's All Good,
Power Has No Use For Truth, Red Stripes.

Links:

]]> "I’ve always dedicated my life to the work, and what ever the work needed that’s what I did."

It has been an incredible year for Austin based artist Deborah Roberts. But after decades of hard work and scholarship it’s not really a surprise. She was already an established artist long before deciding to go back to school to get her MFA in 2014, to study and find the language and direction for her new work. Her imagery started out in a very romantic Americana style but after a time that didn’t completely match the reality of what she was feeling and seeing in the world. The work needed to change. After finishing school she gave herself two years to succeed in art before having to give up once and for all. Then she received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 2016. For the first time she could spend a whole year completely focused on her art full time and create without fear. What has followed is sold out shows all over the country and lots of press praising the work and giving her credit which was overdue.

With a focus in collage, painting, mixed media/installation, and text, Roberts is best known for creating portraits of young black girls, aged 8-10, that ask the viewer to consider how their beauty has been imagined: by art history, pop culture, American history, and black culture. And when and why do these young vulnerable girls have to put on their gloves and start fighting battles? It's important work and it resonates with a lot of people.

Deborah is a delight to be around and the interview was a lot of fun. We go all the way back to her beginnings in art and work our way to the present. She then dissects the meaning and language of the work and talks about the future and her new found fame and power.


Some of the subjects we discuss:

Drawing as a kid
Forced busing
Magnet School/Gifted and Talented
First sold out show
Black Americana romantic painting style
Norman Rockwell
Work becoming more abstract/complicated
The never-ending summer break
Feeling the need for more scholarship
Going back to school/graduate degree
Finding the language for you work
Starting small
Art Palace show
Getting a job/struggling
Avoiding the trap/quitting
Two year agreement
Pollock-Krasner grant year
Creating work without fear
Volta NY/selling out everything
Where have you been?
An incredible year/new notoriety
Listening to the work
Slowing down and scaling up
Incorporating more painting
The structure of a piece
Four freedoms project
New found power



Banner image components by Deborah Roberts
(left to right) Betwixt, Untitled, It's All Good,
Power Has No Use For Truth, Red Stripes.

Links:

]]>