Cara Roberts is a Philadelphia-based artist whose work explores the layered experiences of race, gender, and identity through bold color, textured symbolism, and deeply personal narratives.

Growing up biracial, Cara lived in the space between how she was raised and how the world perceived her. Protected from race and racism in early childhood, she later entered environments where her appearance carried unspoken expectations she had never been taught. That dissonance became the foundation of her practice. She is using painting as a way to question, reflect, and reimagine belonging.

Her work often features hair and color gradients as symbols of visibility, memory, and transformation. Drawing from personal photos and cultural imagery, she investigates the ways identity is shaped by both intimate experience and public gaze.

Cara holds a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where she studied under Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Anne Craven. Her work has been exhibited across the U.S. and featured in publications like Create Magazine, Fused Society, and the Praxis Center for Social Justice Leadership. She has also hosted the podcast "Conversations with Cara" and has written an e-book, also available on this site.

P.S. Cara’s paintings are, at their core, love letters to the in-between, spaces that are often overlooked, but rich with truth, contradiction, and beauty.