L.J. Roberts

known_for = Textile arts, artivism notable_works = The Queer Houses of Brooklyn in the Three Towns of Breukelen, Boswyck, and Midwout during the 41st Year of the Stonewall Era At thirteen, they left home and moved in with another family. As a teenager, they were sent to an Episcopal all-girls boarding school in Maryland despite being Jewish,

Career

Roberts's work consists primarily of large-scale installations knitted with children's toy knitting cranks including sock making machines and Barbie knitting tools. Throughout their career, Roberts has been most influenced by activist art about HIV/AIDS, and uses their craft as a form of activism as well. Moreover, Roberts finds that the issues of marginality they encounter as a queer, gender non-conforming and non-binary person, directly mirror the position(s) of textile and craft within visual culture. All of these materials are also portable, accessible, and can adapt to a variety of circumstances.

Their work has been shown in galleries and exhibitions throughout the United States. The work, which was subsequently purchased by the Smithsonian, was part of the 2012 40 Under 40: Craft Future exhibition in the Renwick Gallery, featuring artists born since 1972. They knitted, sewed, and appliquéd a flat, life-sized van inspired by the 1970s queer van gang, the Van Dykes. Roberts has explained that the work foregrounds both the pleasures and political dimensions of queer spaces, while imagining a uptopian vision of trans-inclusive community and belonging.

Roberts is a past co-chair of the Queer Caucus for Art, an affiliate of the College Art Association. Roberts has a published essay, "Reimagining Craft Identities Using Tactics of Queer Theory", in the 2011 book Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art. In 2015, Roberts was one of nine recipients of the White House Champions of Change award for LGBT Artists.

Personal life Roberts splits their time between Brooklyn, New York and Joshua Tree, California. Their partner is choreographer and performance artist J Dellecave. Roberts has two Chihuahua mix dogs, Sparky and Ziggy.