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Lesley Dill Art

American, b. 1950
Lesley Dill is an American artist working at the intersection of language and fine art. Exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the psyche, Dill invests new meaning in the human form. Fluid metaphors, appropriated from the poetry and writings of Emily Dickinson, Salvador Espriu, Tom Sleigh, Franz Kafka, and Rainer Maria Rilke, connect the diverse media that Dill employs. Paper, wire, horsehair, photography, foil, bronze, and music comprise elements through which the artist conveys the complexities of communication. Dill challenges the viewer to confront our linguistic relationships as well as perceptions of language itself. Born and raised in Maine, Dill received her Master of Arts from Smith College in 1974, and her Master of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art in 1980. She soon emerged as a sculptor and multi-media artist. Her interest in language and allusions to strong feminine identity reflect her friendship with the late artist, Nancy Spero (1926 – 2009), who used text and depictions of the female form, often appropriated as classical goddesses, in her scroll paintings. She has received a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship in addition to the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and Anonymous Was A Woman, among others. Dill conceived and directed an opera, Divide Light, based on the poems of Emily Dickinson that premiered in at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA in 2008. In April, 2018, the New Camerata Opera Company will perform Divide Light in New York City. Dill’s artworks are in the collections of over fifty museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS (#3)

WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS (#3)

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

LESLEY DILL WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS (#3), 1993 mixed media paper construction Framed: 22 1/2 x 17 1/2 in Edition of 20 signed, dated and numbered 12...

Category

1990s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Paper

ONLY
ONLY

Lesley DillONLY, 2004

$80,000Sale Price|20% Off

ONLY

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

LESLEY DILL ONLY, 2004 bronze, paint, ink, wire, thread 58 x 19 x 14 in. 147.3 x 48.3 x 35.6 cm.

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Bronze, Wire

Leave Me Ecstasy

Leave Me Ecstasy

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

Lesley Dill is an American contemporary artist. Her work, using a wide variety of media including sculpture, print, performance art, music, and others, explores the power of language...

Category

1990s Modern Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Etching, Lithograph

SMALL POEM DRESS

SMALL POEM DRESS

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

LESLEY DILL SMALL POEM DRESS, 1993 lithograph on Hindi newsprint 10 x 3 x 2 in. 25.4 x 7.6 x 5.1 cm. edition of 10 image may be slightly different. Please request exact image if int...

Category

1990s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Newsprint, Lithograph

"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret), " Mixed Media signed by Lesley Dill
"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret), " Mixed Media signed by Lesley Dill

"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret), " Mixed Media signed by Lesley Dill

By Lesley Dill

Located in Milwaukee, WI

"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret)" is an original lithograph with nylon string by Lesley Dill. The artist signed the piece lower left. It depicts the silhouette of a man constructed ...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Nylon, Mixed Media, Lithograph

SILVER GOWN OF ASCENSION

SILVER GOWN OF ASCENSION

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The language featured on this work of art reads "highest moment of impulse... high collateral glory." John Milton

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Metal, Wire

WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS,
WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS,

WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS,

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

LESLEY DILL WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS, 1994 patinated bronze 55 x 37 x 30 in. 139.7 x 94 x 76.2 cm. Edition of 4

Category

1990s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Bronze

GOWN OF BLUEPRINT
GOWN OF BLUEPRINT

Lesley DillGOWN OF BLUEPRINT, 2014

$80,000Sale Price|20% Off

GOWN OF BLUEPRINT

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

hand-painted metal with oil paint on metal armature text by Tom Sleigh: BLUEPRINT - 2007 I had a blueprint of history in my head — it was a history of the martyrs of love, the fool...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Metal

WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS (#3)

WHITE HINGED POEM DRESS (#3)

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This beautifully delicate mixed media print contains language from an Emily Dickinson poem.

Category

1990s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

A DIAGRAM OF RAPTURE

A DIAGRAM OF RAPTURE

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

LESLEY DILL A DIAGRAM OF RAPTURE, 2020 Hand-cut paper collage and ink on gampi asian paper 12 x 14 1/2 in. 30.5 x 36.8 cm.

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper

JUBILATION

JUBILATION

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

2 color lithograph on gold abaca. Image of a skeleton surrounded by leaves and letters spelling JUBILATION

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Gold

Ecstasy Skeletons on a Horse
Ecstasy Skeletons on a Horse

Ecstasy Skeletons on a Horse

By Lesley Dill

Located in Astoria, NY

Lesley Dill (American, b. 1950), Ecstasy Skeletons on a Horse, Mixed Media Collage, apparently unsigned, ebonized metal frame. Image: 21.75" H x 21.75" W; frame: 22.25" H x 22.25" W ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Fabric, Thread, Paper, Mixed Media

CURTAIN CALL

CURTAIN CALL

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This unique expressive work of art features an emotional figure centered in the foreground surrounded by gestured brushstrokes.

Category

1990s Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Monotype

WORDS INSIDE

WORDS INSIDE

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The language on this suspended wooden sculpture reads "How ruthless are the gentle" Emily Dickinson

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Copper, Gold Leaf

WING

Lesley DillWING, 2017

Price Upon Request

WING

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This work of art is a offset lithography print with letterpress printing and silkscreen with hand sewn threads. The language on the print reads "In it unsayable with a Phantom Lightn...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Thread, Lithograph

WHITE DRESS

WHITE DRESS

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This expressive fabric sculpture features language that reads “How ruthless are the gentle— How cruel are the kind— God broke his contract to his Lamb To qualify the Wind—“ -Emily Di...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Fabric, Thread, Oil Crayon, Acrylic

Sounds of War

Sounds of War

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

Lesley Dill is an American artist working at the intersection of language and fine art. Exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the psyche, Dill invests new meaning in the h...

Category

Early 2000s Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Copper, Foil, Wire

Faith Faith Faith

Faith Faith Faith

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

Lesley Dill is an American artist working at the intersection of language and fine art. Exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the psyche, Dill invests new meaning in the h...

Category

2010s Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Steel

Homage to Frida Kahlo (Red Frida)

Homage to Frida Kahlo (Red Frida)

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The complete title of the work is "HOMAGE TO FRIDA KAHLO (RED FRIDA) "Exhilaration-is-within-There can be not Outer Wine So Royally intoxicate" E. Dickinson. Lesley Dill is an Amer...

Category

Early 2000s Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Fabric, Cotton, Silk, Ink, Archival Paper

TALL CHAIR
TALL CHAIR

Lesley DillTALL CHAIR, 2023

Price Upon Request

TALL CHAIR

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The language surrounding the top of the tall chair reads "Private Hallucinatory World" -Tom Sleigh

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Copper, Wire

SOUNDS OF WAR

SOUNDS OF WAR

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This cast copper sculpture is explosive with energy and movement, it tells a story of passion and excitement.

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Metal, Copper, Foil, Wire

POEM DRESS OF CIRCULATION

POEM DRESS OF CIRCULATION

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The Language of this work of art reads: "The Heart has narrow banks/ it measures like the Sea/ In mighty - unremitt- ing Bass/ And Blue Monotony/ Till Hurrican bisect/ And as itself ...

Category

1990s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Thread, Acrylic, Lithograph

LEST THE BLAZE TORCH MY HAND

LEST THE BLAZE TORCH MY HAND

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

This work of art is a screen print, relief, and collage with colored silver and gold leaf and thread on Sekishu Thick, Koso, French Black Hemptone, printed on Rives BFK. The language...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

GREY POEM SUIT

GREY POEM SUIT

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The work of art includes language that reads; “The Thrill came slowly like a Boon for Centuries delayed Its fitness growing like the Flood In sumptuous solitude -- The desolation onl...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Fabric, Thread

BIG HEART GOWN

BIG HEART GOWN

By Lesley Dill

Located in New York, NY

The language on this extravagant sculpture are two poems that read; "The heart asks pleasure first and then excuse from pain," Emily Dickinson & "Becoming ever more quiet constantly branching out into ever thinning air...

Category

2010s Contemporary Lesley Dill Art

Materials

Metal

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Lesley Dill art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Lesley Dill art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Lesley Dill in metal, paint, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Lesley Dill art, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Carole Feuerman, Casey Waterman, and Matt Smith. Lesley Dill art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,400 and tops out at $100,000, while the average work can sell for $27,500.

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