by Sara Reiss

ADA: Can you give me a brief history about your background and influences?

Deborah Roberts: I started drawing in high school. And I'm an Austinite, so I went to the University of Texas here in Austin. My influences are the old masters like Rembrandt, Da Vinci. More recently though, I am being influenced by Van Gogh. My professional experiences were when I owned a gallery for eight years, but I had to quit because it was difficult to be an artist and run a gallery. And I wanted to devote my time to making work.

ADA: Let's talk about your art, and the work you are doing currently. How did you arrive at your current style?

DR: As I said, I'm influenced more now by Van Gogh, but I'm not too sure about that. My older style is more realistic. That's my main work, and I go back to it; but I'm starting to work in a more abstract, impressionist style.

ADA: What is your creative process, from the beginning to the end of a painting?

DR: I have a little black book where I do my sketches. Then I take the sketch and draw it out on the canvas, and then I paint it using acrylics. Sometimes the sketches are better than the painting. Sometimes I just can't get it to work in a painting, so I change it from the original sketch.

ADA: Where have you shown your art?

DR: I have shown in The George Washington Carver Museum and also in galleries in Philadelphia and Chicago. I really like Chicago. The doors here in Austin [are] more closed than in places like Philadelphia and Chicago for showing my work.

ADA: Why do you think being a visual artist is important?

DR: Well I think everything is important, like garbage collecting; the garbage collectors are necessary. Being a visual artist is important because if you have something to say, you should speak out, you should do it.

ADA: Does your art try to reflect your identity as an African American, and especially, an African American artist working in Austin?

DR: I have two types of work, my educational work, which is my bread and butter, and what I call my main work. I try to get out in my work the African American experience, which has been stereotyped, but I don't try and place a label on myself and my work.

ADA: Do you want to be identified as an African American artist? Can you tell me about your experiences here as an African American artist?

DR: No, I don't want to be labeled [as an] African American artist. They don't label white male artists and their work as "white male." Usually the label of African American artist is put on by the curators, if we can even get them to come to a show. Unfortunately, if you are ethnic, you are automatically [a] minority in the art world. My experiences here in Austin have been a lot of closed doors. There are curators here who have been here for more than ten years, and they aren't interested in bringing in anything new into the art world here in Austin.

ADA: Tell me a about the group that you started for African American artists.

DR: A few of my colleagues and I formed the African American Artists Coalition because we felt it was necessary. There wasn't a community here in Austin for African American artists, and we felt we had to form this group to make a community here. We formed the group almost two years ago, and in fact, our two-year anniversary will be this January.

ADA: Do you feel there is an "old garde" aesthetic within the African American arts scene here?

DR: There is definitely a split between artists who [are and] aren't interested in growth, and I am all about change and growth. But there are some artists who are getting known as sort of the "flavor of the month", and so they don't feel they need to push for change or have any growth. But then there are artists who do think there should be a change and there should be growth.

ADA: What do you think the Austin arts scene needs?

DR: The Austin arts scene needs an education in diversity. Definitely. Austin has to open up towards art and artists of African American and other ethnic backgrounds.

ADA: Are you a member of any visual arts organizations in town such as TFAA or ACA?

DR: No. I don't really like groups. They all seem fake. I call them the "Shakers and the Fakers". I like to be on my own. I mean, forming the coalition was necessary, for both young emerging African American artists who need resources and working African American artists, but I don't join other groups.

ADA: Where are you showing your work presently?

DR: I was recently in a show at the George Washington Carver Museum. And if anyone is interested in seeing or buying, they can call the museum. They know what to do.

[For more info on Deborah Roberts and her work, contact the George Washington Carver Museum at (512) 472-4809 or www.carvermuseum.org.]