Stages of Compromise presents a new body of work by Bushwick-based artist, Raine Roberts, featuring photographic transfers onto wood, gelatin silver prints, and a site-specific installation. Combining analog images with sculpture, the pieces in this exhibition trace patterns of repetition to intimately reflect on the erosion of land and body.

Roberts’ images observe the architectural forms and structures that compose her surroundings and the weathering they endure from ecological forces. Fragmented into parts and cured onto wood one panel at a time, these images are made anew through the unpredictable ruptures that occur when revealing their recomposed form.

Reimagining forms through their disassembly, Roberts imbues this cyclical process with symbols from her own personal narrative and lineage. The resulting pieces serve as a cathartic release: embodying stages of deterioration, and opening up possibilities for the re-fusion of elements into new architectures. 

Stages of Compromise serves as a follow-up to Roberts’ debut solo exhibition, Cement Flow, at Westlab + Gallery in August 2023. This exhibition represents an expansion of Roberts’ photographic transfer technique to incorporate larger-scale works and a subtle introduction of color.

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Raine Roberts is a photographer, filmmaker, sculptor, and educator. Her work studies themes of repetition, structure, the natural environment, and the body. Stages of Compromise is Roberts’ second solo exhibition at Westlab + Gallery, and follows the debut of her 16mm film, Dove Stone, at Mono XVIII in December 2024.