Overview
For Lesley Dill, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me, Lesley Dill (American, born 1950) created a new body of work drawing on language, the written word, and the investigation of divinity and devilry during the wilderness of Early America. Her pieces take the forms of long thin figures that wear the strength of the words of the people they represent. Though differing in specific experience, each of these personas have had a powerful impact through their words, and personally connect with the artist. Dill believes that there is something untamable, fierce, and persistent in each of their beliefs, which ultimately unites them. She is drawn to this restrictive time period of limited access to a diversity of written word and the bravery of these figures’ response.
Dill presents a new way of reading and absorbing the words of these idiosyncratic figures. The painted and sewn letters in her work take on a formal quality of their own, not legible in the same way as we are accustomed, leaving a considerable impact on the viewer. Dill found inspiration in the poetry, prose, and declarations of early New England figures and also represents religious crusaders, social activists, and Native American leaders such as by the Sauk warrior Black Hawk, the self-taught artist and Alabama native, Sister Gertrude Morgan, and Mother Ann Lee, the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers. The artist incorporates their words into two and three-dimensional wall hangings and sculptures.
Lesley Dill was born in Bronxville, New York, grew up in Maine and the Adirondacks, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her performances, sculptures, and works on paper and fabric are composed of materials such as horsehair, muslin, thread, photography, and metal. Since the early 1980s, Dill has had over 100 solo exhibitions and her work is found in museum collections worldwide. Recently, Dill became a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.
Above: Photograph of the 2021 installation of the exhibition Lesley Dill, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama. Featured work: SISTER GERTRUDE MORGAN, 2021, acrylic paint, hand-cut paper, thread on cotton fabric, satin, plastic sheeting, wooden yoke and shoe lasts, 100 x 42 x 6 inches, Lent by the artist.
Organizer
Organized by the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
Sponsorship
This exhibition was made possible in part by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Support for this exhibition was provided locally by lead sponsors Lamar Advertising and Judge Gene Reese and Mrs. Winston Wilson Reese and sponsors Laura and Barrie Harmon, Gage and Mark LeQuire, The S Adam Schloss Foundation, and Mr. Will Hill Tankersley and Dr. Kristin Tankersley.
Additional support was provided by co-sponsors AmeriFirst Bank; Balch & Bingham, LLP; Barganier Davis Williams Architects Associated, AIA; Dr. and Mrs. Sanders Benkwith; Harmon Dennis Bradshaw, Inc.; Jackson Hospital & Clinic; Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Peggy and Maurice Mussafer; Carolyn and Dr. Alfred J. Newman, Jr.; and Valley Bank.
Interactive Exhibition Guide
Whether at home or in the galleries, explore an interactive map and listen to artist Lesley Dill speak about her work on view in the exhibition Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me by clicking the link below.
Lesley Dill is drawn to the restrictive time period of early American and its limited access to a diversity of written word and the bravery of these figures’ response.
Gallery
Installation at the MMFA
Related Programs + Events
Wilderness Inspires
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
6 PM CT
Arts+Activism: The Power of Language
Saturday, December 4, 2021
3 PM CT
On the Mend – Teen Workshop
Saturday, December 4, 2021
10 AM to Noon CT
The World of Fiber Arts – Homeschool Workshop
Friday, December 3, 2021
10 AM–3 PM CT
Art Explorers Jr.
Tuesday, November 9, 16, December 7, and 14, 2021
1 PM CT
Art+Letters: Horace Pippin, American Modern
Saturday, November 6, 2021
10 AM CT
Mashup: A Written Arts Workshop
Saturday, October 23, 2021
10:30 AM—2:30 PM CT
Art Ed Central
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
5 PM CT
Opening Reception
Thursday, October 7, 2021
5:30 PM CT
An Afternoon with Lesley Dill
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
4 PM CT