Artist Lesley Dill combines history and literature to create her artwork


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Artist Lesley Dill talks about her life experiences and recent work on Oct. 29 at the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium in Charles V. Park Library.

New York-based artist Lesley Dill incorporates the words of world-renowned poets and authors into her work. 

Dill spoke at Central Michigan University on Oct. 29 as part of the 14th Steven L. Barstow lecture series.

Her artwork is on display in museums around the United States, including the Main Gallery of CMU’s University Art Gallery.

Dill creates art through multiple different media, including painting, photography, video, statues and clothing.

“I am shy, and I thought I could make artwork that could talk for me,” Dill said. “I started making dresses as if they were dresses of armor that could open up.”

Dill said her art style changed, and her talent increased, when her mother gave her a book of Emily Dickinson poems.

“I started to read the book, and some of the words lit up as if they were lit up with electrical blue lights, and jumped into my eyes like electrical blue humming birds,” Dill said. “The words would come in my eyes and images would come out.”

She has created several pieces inspired by Dickinson, including an opera film of Dickinson poems, with the help of her husband.

“My freshman year, I took Nature of Language and we talked about how words are arbitrary, and we have to give them meaning,” Grand Rapids recent graduate Loissa Harrison said. “I thought it was really cool to see her play off that idea with understanding words and the irony of it.”

Dill’s piece, “Wilderness: Words are Where What I Catch is Me” captures the essence of authors and historians through handcrafted outfits and original portraits.

“We know to read Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne or Sojourner Truth for more than the words,” Dill said.

“Wilderness: Words are Where What I Catch is Me” will be on display in the University Art Gallery through Nov. 17.

“I enjoyed seeing the whole journey of her artwork and each little step to what is displayed right now,” said Traverse City graduate student Erin Collins. “It was really accessible and entertaining, making me want to hear more.” 

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