Chris Lee Roberts-Antieau
Chris Lee Roberts-Antieau (born November 18, 1950) is an American fiber artist based in Michigan. She described her work as “embroidered tapestries”, created with the use of fabric appliqué, thread painting, and hand embroidery. She also draws, paints, and creates mixed-media works.
Early life and career
Roberts-Antieau was born and raised in Michigan. She learned to sew in her seventh-grade home economics class. She briefly enrolled in a high school art class, but eventually dropped out and did not attend college.
In the early 1980s, Roberts-Antieau began sewing three-dimensional sculptures of circus workers, trapeze artists, and male figures. She then took an appliqué class, where she learned to develop her pencil sketches and paintings into fabric art. As a clothing designer, Roberts-Antieau founded her own company with a staff of fifteen. She appliquéd her drawings onto fabric, creating a line of vests, jackets, and handbags.
Roberts-Antieau shifted her focus from clothing design to textile art. Current fabric works are made from freehand-cut cloth shapes enclosed within a glass painted frame. Her work has been described as “Embroidered Tapestries” — to represent its combination of fabric appliqué, thread painting, and hand embroidery.
She opened a gallery and frame shop in New Orleans, Louisiana, and with the gallery in her direct ownership, Roberts-Antieau had more control over the sale of her work and spent more time in her Ann Arbor, Michigan studio. After a breast cancer diagnosis, her work became more introspective and often focused on everyday experiences.
In 2017, Roberts-Antieau and her team traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a pop-up experience. She opened a second gallery in Santa Fe where her works are displayed.
Chris Roberts-Antieau
Curriculum Vitae
Chris Roberts-Antieau
b. 1950, Ann Arbor, MI
Lives and works in Santa Fe, NM
Chris Roberts-Antieau has consistently been a pioneer of machine embroidery. Her main body of work, which she calls “thread paintings”, are highly sophisticated tapestries created in her signature style of fabric appliqué and intricate embroidery, crafted on a simple Bernina sewing machine. Antieau’s subject matter ranges from joyfully candid cultural commentary depicting unbelievable true stories (such as James Brown’s Funeral: And The Tragic Aftermath) to more personal reflections on nature, perception, reality and truth. Antieau further explores her interests through sculpture and installation, creating elaborate dollhouses of famous murder scenes and elegant gowns embroidered with birds of prey eviscerating small animals.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
UWF Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL.
The American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
Boxing Hall of Fame, Canastota, NY
House of Representatives, Washington, DC
Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
21c Museum Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK
21c Museum Hotel, Durham, NC
PRIVATE COLLECTORS
Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chappaqua, NY
Oprah Winfrey, Chicago, IL
Katy Perry, Santa Barbara, CA
Carrie Fisher, Los Angeles, CA
Harry Shearer, New Orleans, LA
Ben Folds, Nashville, TN
Darryl Hannah, Malibu, CA
Jason Segel, Los Angeles, CA
Cooper Manning, New Orleans, LA
Justin Vernon, WI
Mindy Kaling, Los Angeles, CA
Blake Lively, New York, NY
Woody Harrelson, Kula, HI
Uma Thurman, Los Angeles, CA
Elizabeth Marvel & Bill Camp, Brooklyn, NY
Lyle Lovett, Houston, TX
John Waters, Baltimore, MD
Helena Bonham Carter, UK
Ted Dwane, UK
John Mulaney, New York, NY
Casey Affleck, Los Angeles, CA
John Malkovich, New Orleans, LA
Miranda Lambert, Nashville, TN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brian P. Kelly “In Miami, the Best Art at NADA and Untitled” The Wall Street Journal. 03 Dec 2025.
McCauley, Mary Carole. “The good, bad and horrific of parenting on display at Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum” The Baltimore Sun. 23 Oct 2018.
Kutz, Jessica. “Gallery 81435 to host work by Chris Roberts-Antieau” Telluride Daily Planet. Print. 24 Jan 2017.
“Juxtapoz Magazine” Chris Roberts-Antieau’s “Fabric Paintings”” Juxtapoz Magazine. Web. 19 Aug 2016.
Sekoff, Hallie. “Chris Robert- Antieau’s ‘Fabric Paintings’” The Huffington Post. Web. August 2016.
Glatz, Lindsay. “Instinct and Inspiration: at Antieau Gallery” Art+Design Magazine. Print. Spring 2014
“Homespun Art” Galleries and Antiques: the Guide. Where New Orleans. Print. May 2014.
Perrett, Kelsey. “The Dark and the Light SIde: Edgartown’s Antieau Gallery” MVTimes. Print. July 2014.
Lathan, Colette. “Big Easy Comes to Edgartown Bringing it’s Own Flavor” Vineyard Gazette. Print. June 2014.
Neighbours, Andrea. “5 Must-Dos New Orleans,” Where New Orleans. Print. December 2014.
Rice Freeman, Zachery. “Artist Portfolio: Chris Roberts-Antieau” Art Quilting Studio. Print. Summer 2013
MacCash, Doug. “Dirty Linen” The Times Picayune. Print. August 2013.
“Sew Very Cool” Where New Orleans. Print. April 2013.
Patch, Lianna. “Artist Spotlight: Chris Roberts-Antieau” New Orleans Living. Print. September 2013.
Eberbach, Jennifer. “A Sublime Place to Make Art.” American Style. Print. February 2011.
“Sew New Orleans” Galleries and Antiques: the Guide. Where New Orleans. Print. August 2010.
Prose, Francine. “Reading Room: Giving Them the World” O, The Oprah Magazine. Print. December 2008