In this episode, I fangirl over Deborah Roberts, living, working, and making mixed media art in Houston, Texas. This is not an interview with Deborah. But instead, I give a heartfelt goddess shoutout and share details about her work. I also take a deep dive into why she inspires me enough to devote an entire podcast episode to her!
Also, in this episode, I share about my own personal experiences with mixed media art-making. Because I am also a mixed-media artist (sort of). And I offer information about how to find, follow, and fangirl this incredibly talented, dedicated, and phenomenal artist.
Her work has been exhibited internationally across the US and Europe; and is included in collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC, and LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), among others. In addition, her work has been published in Art in America, Vogue, New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and New York Times. Roberts received her MFA from Syracuse University, New York.
“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 and increasingly Black boys, whose well-being and futures are equally threatened because of the double standard of boyhood and criminality that is projected on them at such a young age. The boys and girls who populate my work, while subject to societal pressures and projected images, are still unfixed in their identity. Each child has character and agency to find their own way amidst the complicated narratives of American, African American and art history.”
-Deborah Roberts
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE
The Goddess Attainable Podcast gives goddess shoutouts to women who kick ass. This podcast is my way of celebrating individual women, one episode at a time. In the hopes that you too might become a super huge fangirl like me. Rather than interviewing, I devote each episode to fangirling over a woman who has inspired me in some way. And I offer ample resources to find out more about her. I’m making up for all of those lost years of dismissing and critiquing individuals from my very own lovely gender. By giving genuine goddess shoutouts to the so very many goddesses who kick ass in this world.
Visit The Goddess Attainable Podcast page for a full list of episodes and information.
MOST IN-DEMAND ARTIST
Several days after I recorded this episode, Deborah posted this in her instagram stories! Evidently, she was listed as one of The Most In-Demand Artists on Artsy in October 2021. Check out this article for more information.
“One of the artists who saw the largest increase in attention from collectors on Artsy was Deborah Roberts. Roberts, known for her distinctive mixed-media collage portraits of Black children, is gaining attention on both the primary and secondary markets.
At Frieze London last month, Stephen Friedman Gallery sold out its solo booth of works by Roberts (all in the range of $125,000 to $150,000) by the end of the fair’s first preview day. The artist’s portraits are also beginning to gain a foothold on the secondary market; Roberts’s work has regularly outperformed estimates since making its debut at auction in July 2020. Her current auction record was set this past June by Serenade (2017), a fractured mixed-media work of a young girl wearing a tulle headdress, which sold for $119,700—nearly double its low estimate—at a Phillips sale in New York.
Since then, two more works by Roberts have surfaced at auction. But have only achieved prices in the low five-figure range. However, that six-figure record stands to be broken this month when a collaged work from Roberts’s “Nessun Dorma” series, I Do Solemnly Swear (2018), goes up for auction on November 12th in New York at a Christie’s post-war and contemporary art day sale with a $100,000 to $150,000 estimate.”
-Artsy, October 2021
Congratulations, Deborah!
USEFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES
Deborah Roberts website: http://www.deborahrobertsart.com/
Follow Deborah Roberts on Instagram @rdeborah191
Art in America, “I Will Not Be Taught How To Behave” article by Joshua Bennett
“4 Ways To Create Meaningful Art”
“Beauty Hurts In The Eyes Of An Artist”
THANK YOU FOR READING AND/OR LISTENING
So, what do you think of the brilliant Deborah Roberts? Have you ever seen her mixed media art before? Either way, are you now following her on Instagram? If not, then why not?! 🙂 Also, what artist inspires you the most? And what is a dream you have had forever that you hope to accomplish someday? Or maybe, you have made your dream come true already!? Finally, I would love to hear from you, and I hope you enjoy this goddess shoutout! xo
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PHOTO CREDITS
Featured image: Deborah Roberts, The duty of disobedience, 2020. Mixed media collage on canvas. 72 x 100 inches. Artwork © Deborah Roberts. Courtesy the artist; Vielmetter Los Angeles; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Paul Bardagjy.
Portrait of Deborah Roberts in her studio obtained from here
Wow! She is impressive.
Yeah she’s unbelievable on so many levels 😍😍😍