Deborah Roberts’s solo exhibition, 'Consequences of Being,' at The FLAG Art Foundation showcases a significant evolution in her practice, featuring new large-scale paintings, works on paper, and her debut in ceramic sculpture. Her signature collage-based figures are presented as fragmented, composite bodies that challenge fixed notions of Black identity and subjecthood. By blending archival imagery with vernacular signage, Roberts explores how colonial legacies and historical narratives continue to influence the perception of Black bodies across the globe.
The exhibition is a critical examination of the 'politics of the gaze,' specifically focusing on how Black children navigate the space between vulnerability and defiance. Roberts’s work matters because it moves beyond mere representation to address the systemic ways in which bodies are constructed and mis-seen by society. By refusing visual coherence and embracing multiplicity, the show stages a powerful reclamation of selfhood against the weight of historical and contemporary scrutiny.