Because i could not stop for death
Lesley Dill
Photo courtesy of George Adams Gallery, New York
Lesley Dill
Born in
Dill credits her father, who heard voices and used a private, metaphorical language, for her early exposure to the nuances of language and its various degrees of intelligibility. She credits a book of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, a 40th-birthday gift from her mother, for dramatically changing the direction of her art.
Dill’s early work centered on attenuated figures sculpted of wood, bronze, or Celluclay.
Lesley dill artist emily dickinson poems Emily Dickinson. A year survey of work by the American artist, the exhibition Lesley Dill features oil pastel drawings, a large-scale metal wall drawing, and bronze and paper sculptures in the Joyce and Edward Linde Gallery, as well as an outdoor sculpture on the Pollock Terrace. Dill is known for combining language with the human form in a variety of mediums. In her work, she uses text as a mode of communication, as a physical subject, and as a symbol by painting it onto bronze sculptures, stitching it into paper, and sculpting it in metal. The words of poets including Emily Dickinson, Franz Kafka, Salvador Espriu, and most recently Tom Sleigh, inspire and find physical form within her visceral works.Though these figures dealt with themes of vulnerability and sensuality, they were relatively literal in concept. The incorporation of language, specifically poetry, provided new layers of meaning in her art. Such works argue that our sense of self is formed in large part through language and communication. Dill’s art has been further influenced by her travels in India and her interest in Buddhism.
The artist has been the focus of two retrospective exhibitions, which traveled widely.
Her awards include a sculpture fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Artist Details
Name
Lesley Dill
Birth
Bronxville, New York,
Phonetic Spelling
LEHS-lee dihl
Works by Lesley Dill
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