Sue Willie Seltzer
Sue Willie Seltzer (1921–2010) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective.[1][2] Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and is included in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[3][4]
Life
Sue Willie Seltzer and her three siblings were raised by a single mother. Her mother needed the children to help support the family, so the children often went to Orrville to pick cotton for a white families or their mother's brothers and sisters. Seltzer and her brother, being the oldest, were required to pick at least one hundred pounds of cotton per day. Being that Orrville was a twelve-mile walk away, or half a day's walk, this work would need to be completed very quickly.[3]
Seltzer had at least one son, Benjamin, who married the former Boykin Postmaster, Bettie Bendolph Seltzer.[3]
Work
Seltzer did not begin to quilt until she was much older than most. She claimed to join quilting bees when she was thirty or forty years old. She learned by watching her peers join together and make quilts for one another. A true improvisational artist, Seltzer often borrowed other people's blocks, to piece together into one quilt. She would also take apart pillow-case sewing kits and use those materials for her quilts. She preferred large blocks and bold contrasts to small, meticulous pieces.[3]
References
- Arnett, William; Herman, Bernard (2006). Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood Books. p. 126. ISBN 9780971910478.
- Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Arnett, Paul; Livingston, Jane (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 414. ISBN 9780971910409.
- "Sue Willie Seltzer | Souls Grown Deep Foundation". www.soulsgrowndeep.org. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
- "Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands African American Art Collection". Art & Object. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
