Rosie Lee Tompkins

Rosie Lee Tompkins was a highly celebrated African-American quiltmaker and fiber artist.

Biography of Rosie Lee Tompkins

Rosie Lee Tompkins, born Effie Mae Martin in 1936 in rural Gould, Lincoln County, Arkansas, spent her early years helping her family pick cotton. Due to the constraints of poverty, she and her mother meticulously pieced together quilts from every available scrap of cloth. Through this practice, Tompkins became part of a rich tradition of African American female quilters.

Tompkins left school before starting high school and moved to Richmond, California, in 1958. Upon arriving, she set quilting aside to pursue nursing courses at local institutions. After completing her coursework, Tompkins worked as a nurse. During this time, she married and became Effie Mae Howard. Over her lifetime, Tompkins married and divorced twice.

By the early 1980s, Tompkins had returned to quilting with dedication, although she kept her creations private and did not attempt to sell them. In the mid-1980s, quilt scholar and collector Eli Leon discovered one of Tompkins's quilts at a flea market. Intrigued, he persuaded her to show him more of her work.

This encounter marked the beginning of a long-lasting friendship and professional relationship. Leon introduced Tompkins's quilts to museums and galleries, which eagerly showcased her art. Her first exhibition "Who'd a Thought It?" debuted at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art in 1988 and was subsequently displayed in 28 venues.

In the ensuing years, Tompkins's work was showcased in magazines and exhibited in university galleries as well as prominent museums. Her quilts were even included in the Whitney Biennial in 2002. Despite her growing fame, Tompkins remained intensely private, with only four people in the art world knowing her appearance, allowing her to attend her own exhibits incognito. 

The artist passed away in 2006, at the age of 70. Though little is known about her personal life, Tompkins's quilts have left a lasting impact and continue to inspire all who view them.

Rosie Lee Tompkins's Art Style

Tompkins's quilts were crafted not from old clothes or scraps but from fabrics she specifically purchased for their textures and light-reflecting qualities. Her quilts were considered radical for their use of unconventional materials such as feed sacks, rayon, velvet, polyester, fake fur, wool, and silk, instead of the traditional cotton.

Critics often compared her work to modernist paintings because of her vivid colors, geometric shapes, and intricate patterns. She adhered to the traditional quilt block format, but introduced enormous variations in size, free distortions of shape, and vivid color contrasts, creating pieces often described as "geometric anarchy" and "riotous mosaics."