Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Revelation! The Quilts of Marie “Big Mama” Roseman

May 5 through September 2, 2006Curated by Martha Watterson and Doug Stock

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1. Untitled (White with flowers and face/ “Little Black Man”), n.d.Mixed media72 x 64 in.The Collection of Margaret and Leroy Jackson

2. Untitled (Quilt: small pink, brown, and green patches), n.d.Mixed media57 x 55 in.Collection of Chip Tom

3. Untitled (Quilt with multicolored yarn), n.d.Mixed media70 x 89 in.The Collection of Margaret and Leroy Jackson

4. Untitled (Duck quilt), n.d.Mixed media98 x 55 in.The Collection of Margaret and Leroy Jackson

5. Untitled (Towel work with writing), c.1970sMixed media 43 x 27 in. Collection of Donald Roseman

6. Untitled (Quilt: blue, brown, and a few pink patches), n.d.Mixed media 57 x 55 in.Collection of Chip Tom

7. Untitled (Pillow with plastic leaf), c. late 1960sMixed media12 x 12 x 3 in.Collection of Donald Roseman

8. Untitled (Burlap pillow), n.d.Mixed media12 x 12 x 3 in.Collection of Donald Roseman

9. Untitled (Red with imagery), n.d.Mixed media60 x 39 1⁄2 in. Collection of Hamza Walker

10. Untitled (Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer), n.d.Mixed media73 1⁄2 x 59 3⁄4 x 2 1⁄4 in. Collection of David Kargl and Elizabeth Shinar

11. Untitled (Foot warmer), c. late 1960sMixed media23 x 17 x 3 in.Collection of Donald Roseman

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12. Untitled (Patches with face), n.d.Mixed media71 x 71 in.Collection of the City of Chicago, Public Arts Program

13. Untitled (Quilt: red with text and imagery), n.dMixed media93 x 53 in.Collection of Chip Tom

14. Untitled (Peacock with boots), n.d.Mixed media63 x 80 in.The Collection of Margaret and Leroy Jackson

15. Untitled (Peacock), n.d.Mixed media100 x 80 x 1 1⁄2 in. Collection of David Kargl and Elizabeth Shinar

16. Untitled (Bird with top hat/gingham), n.d.Mixed media94 x 65 in. Collection of the City of Chicago, Public Arts Program

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Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Like many self-taught artists, Marie “Big Mama” Roseman

(1898-2004) did not begin to express herself artistically until

later in life. Although she had been quilting for years, Roseman

began creating her sculptured, illustrative quilts, pillows and

other textiles in the 1970s, when she was in her 70s. Roseman

made hundreds of works in the ensuing 30 years, but due to

flooding in her home, only a few survive today.

Roseman’s quilts share some of the features often found in

African-American improvised quilts. However, the defining

individual artistic features of Roseman’s works are her unique

embroidery, the cryptic appliqué text which she incorporated

into some of her works, and the three-dimensional sculptural

elements she often attached to them. According to her family,

she would use whatever materials were given to her, and it

is likely what she had available helped determine her final

artistic products.

By embroidering animals and designs with a thick yarn

onto her quilts and textiles, she created not only illustrations

but narratives. Roseman often used an appliqué technique to

create words and figures on her works. Additionally, she added

found materials such as plastic and cloth flowers, lace, and

buttons, which created a sculptural effect.

Roseman sewed both by hand and with a traditional pump-

pedal sewing machine, a model she preferred to the electric

machine her family had bought for her. She used her bed as

her quilting frame, and her grandchildren would often join her

there while she worked.

Born in Tippo, Mississippi, Roseman was of African Amer-

ican, European and Native American ancestry. While her family

history and personal background do not exclusively explain

her artistic motivations, they do illuminate her diverse cultural

experiences and some of the influences her personal life may

have had on her creative process.

While still in Mississippi, Marie married Jessie Roseman,

and they had three sons and one daughter. She and Jessie

moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1947. At home, she would

quilt through the night, telling her extended family that she

could watch and guard the house while they were sleeping.

Roseman left her house infrequently. After the 1950s, she

rarely ventured beyond her home environment to attend church

or to go out. Her own family, friends, garden, and TV would have

most likely been her main influences. She created her own

world in her home, and during this time created huge numbers

of quilts and textiles.

Her textile work appears to have been influenced by

natural elements, with frequent references to flowers and vine

shapes. This artistic choice could have been inspired by her

relationship with the organic world through her role as a Native

American healer and herbalist, a talent she learned from her

father and grandfather.

Roseman created many dolls, which she gave as gifts

to the children in her life. She would even attach small dolls

to her quilts, possibly a reference to her experiences

delivering children.

As we present the works of Marie Roseman, and as

improvised quilts are being presented by the museum

community into high art, we should consider how we are

changing the meaning of them when we hang them vertically

in an exhibition space. In the 1967 story Everyday Use for your

Grandmama by Alice Walker, a mother and her two grown

daughters explore the meanings of memory and narrative in

their grandmother’s quilts.1 One of the daughters, Maggie,

sees the quilts as special, treasured, useful objects. Her sister,

Dee, sees the quilts as symbols of her own transformation.

She believes they should be cared for as artistic objects. The

quilts become a touchstone for reflection and identity for both

daughters and their mother.

The contrast between hanging a quilt as a painting and

using a quilt as a bedcover is illustrated in George Bataille’s

theory of horizontality.2 Quilts go back and forth into both

worlds: the vertical world of high culture (gallery) and the

horizontal world of humanity (the bedroom).3 When exhibiting

quilts in the museum context, we should explore meanings

behind both uses, and how the presentation of them shifts our

interpretation and understanding of them.

This exhibition gives us a glimpse into the idiosyncratic

and bold body of work by Marie Roseman. With her unique

and original embroidery and three-dimensional designs and

figures, Roseman transcends the utility of improvised quilting

into the artistic. Her works are a true revelation.

Special thanks to all who assisted and supported

this exhibition.

Martha Watterson

Revelation! The Quilts of Marie “Big Mama” Roseman

1 Alice Walker, “Everyday Use,” in In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women (New York: Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc., 1967), p. 47-59.2 Kathryn Hixson, The Topologies of Anne Wilson’s Topologies, (Boston: UMass Art Gallery, 2003), p. 35-41. In her essay, Hixson discusses Yve-Alain Bois and Rosalind Krauss’ interpretation of George Bataille’s theory or horizontality. 3 Ibid.