Deborah Roberts

Deborah Roberts is an American visual artist whose work explores themes of identity, race and beauty, in the form of portraits of Black children. Born in 1962 and raised in Austin, Texas, Roberts has become widely recognised for her powerful mixed-media collages that challenge societal perceptions and stereotypes.

Deborah Roberts juxtaposes images from various sources — magazines, the internet and historical photos — to create composite figures that are both fragmented and unified. These figures often feature exaggerated or mismatched features, symbolising the multifaceted nature of identity and the pressures to conform to certain ideals of beauty and behaviour.

In Roberts’s work, the viewer is reminded of the racial biases the American culture and justice system harbour in their very foundations. Roberts mixes signifiers of agedness and youth in her precise collaging, casting into high relief the stolen adolescence and demanded early maturity of young Black children.

Roberts has received widespread acclaim for her work, with exhibitions at major institutions across the United States and Europe. Her work belongs in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Scottish National Galleries and more.