Combining collage with mixed media and hand-painted details, the figurative works of Deborah Roberts depict the complexity of Black subjecthood and explore themes of race, identity, and gender politics. Often incorporating a range of different facial features, skin tones, hairstyles, and clothes, her works invite viewers to challenge stereotypes and myths surrounding universal beauty and dress, creating room for those who have historically been excluded.

From her earliest encounters with mythical and powerful figures represented in paintings by Italian Renaissance artists, Roberts recognized that these depictions did not reflect her appearance or her experience. She explains that “with collage, I can create a more expansive and inclusive view of the Black cultural experience.” Simultaneously heroic and insecure, playful and serious, powerful and vulnerable, the figures Roberts depicts are complex and layered, encouraging the visitor to take a closer look.