by Gregory F;rlotte
She says laughingly; ..People expect to find me a large. strong
person as dramatic as my paintings. Instead. I'm an ordinary
woman expresses herself through the canvas. Sometimes we, as artists,
paint so that we do not have to expose our innermost selves all the time.
The paintings are the messages we want to convey to the viewer. This is
why I say: 'Look no further than the artwork, for in it you will find
all that you're looking for: "
Because her fame came via the blanket wearers, many people
have doubted as to whether she could actually paint faces. "l love
to paint and draw faces !" says Roberts with enthusiasm. "When
I traveled to China, I was so fascinated by all the wonderful faces I
saw. To me, China is the faces of its peoples. I did an entire series
of pen and ink drawings of people, street scenes and the incredible Island
of the Pearl in Hang chow. All these drawings are sold:'
Her J 982 visit to China was a spur-of-the-moment adventure.
Accompanied by her brother, an attorney in Colorado, Roberts was finally
able to see firsthand a country with which she had been fascinated since
childhood. She recalls, "My mother used to read me stories about
Marco Polo and I thought that China must surely be the most exotic place
in all the universe. And I found it to be so:' While there, Roberts visited
an art school in Shanghai where she drew for the children who were curious
about "this lady who could draw American Indians:'
It was in China where Roberts was dramatically reminded of
how important line and form are to the artist. She recalls, "There
is a tree in China called the 'smiling magnolia' which, when it blossoms,
loses all its leaves. All that is left are the bare branches and the muted-color
flowers. I saw nothing except a simple, exquisite form against the sky:'
Another sojourn, an African trip in 1984 was solely one of escape with no artistic strings attached. "I wanted to see the animals and just get away from it all:' she remarks. However, Roberts was intrigued with the Masai women walking along the roadside adorned in beautifully colored fabrics. "The patterns and colors were somewhat reminescent of those found among the Native Americans living in the pueblos:' notes the artist. While in Kenya, Roberts discovered hand-beaten ankle bracelets festooned with bells. "The sound they made was identical to the one made by the pueblo dancers during their festivities. It was so amazing to be in an entirely different culture and to feel so close to it at the same time:'
The sights and sounds garnered through trips abroad slowly
find their way into Roberts' work. For example, for the August J 990 Indian
Market in Santa Fe, she will debut a series of Native American faces done
with acrylic on black Arches paper. Recently when
talking with her lithographer, Michael Costello of
Hand Graphics in Santa Fe,
Roberts was asked if she could utilize some of his leftover
black Arches paper. Being fascinated with the prospects, she immediately
began to experiment with acrylic and dry brush. The result was the effect
of pastel with its chalk-like texture. Roberts is currently at work on
a seven by nine foot black-gessoed canvas upon which she will create a
composition of ceremonial Indian dancers.
Black has a mysterious quality," she remarks. "With
it. I can add backgrounds to my paintings which suggest the supernatural
feeling of these remarkable ceremonies:. She notes. "This series
was nurturing when 1 was in Africa. Now the two cultures are combined
in a bold.
FEBRUARY 1990. ART GALLERA INTERNATIONAL