A Mouthful of Words
Artist: Lesley Dill (American, born 1950)
Date: 1997
Dimensions:
Overall: 51 15/16 x 51 7/16 in. (132 x 130.7 cm);
Framed: 55 x 54 3/4 in. (139.7 x 139 cm)
Medium: charcoal, photography, thread, scraper on paper (one of a kind)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Winthrop H. Perry Fund
Object number: 2000.6
Label Text:Language is the touchstone, the pivot point of all my work.
Lesley Dill visualizes how we use language to declare our identities. In A Mouthful of Words, she strings ribbons and cut-out paper strands of Emily Dickinson’s (1830–1886) poetry from the mouth of a young man—is he releasing them or choking on them? We can make out only random words and phrases (“room it seems,” “poverty”), which suggests the inadequacy of language as a means of self-expression. Dill also emphasizes the instability of language by sewing on threads leading from the ribbons so that the words themselves seem to be unraveling.
This work is a result of collaboration between Dill and University of Memphis student volunteers who posed for a series of photographs for Dill. The photographer was David Horan.
Lesley Dill visualizes how we use language to declare our identities. In A Mouthful of Words, she strings ribbons and cut-out paper strands of Emily Dickinson’s (1830–1886) poetry from the mouth of a young man—is he releasing them or choking on them? We can make out only random words and phrases (“room it seems,” “poverty”), which suggests the inadequacy of language as a means of self-expression. Dill also emphasizes the instability of language by sewing on threads leading from the ribbons so that the words themselves seem to be unraveling.
This work is a result of collaboration between Dill and University of Memphis student volunteers who posed for a series of photographs for Dill. The photographer was David Horan.
Description[wall label]
Lesley Dill
American, born 1950
A Mouthful of Words
1997
Gelatin-silver photograph, charcoal, thread, scraper
Winthrop H. Perry Fund, 2000.6
Lesley Dill
American, born 1950
A Mouthful of Words
1997
Gelatin-silver photograph, charcoal, thread, scraper
Winthrop H. Perry Fund, 2000.6
Not on view
In Collection(s)