A Mouthful of Words

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A Mouthful of Words

Artist Lesley Dill American, born 1950

Date1997

DimensionsOverall: 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)

Mediumcharcoal, photography, thread, scraper on paper (one of a kind)

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LineWinthrop H. Perry Fund

Object number

2000.6

Not on View

Collections

Works on Paper

Published ReferencesA Mouthful of Words (Memphis, 1997) Princenthal, Nancy, "Word of Mouth: Leslie Dill’s Work on Paper," On Paper 2, no.4 Mar-Apr. 1998Exhibition HistoryLesley Dill: a Mouth Full of Words, Art Museum, University of Memphis, 1997 Lesley Dill: In Black and White, George Adams Gallery, New York 1997 TMA New Acquisitions in Graphic Arts, Dec. 21, 2001-March 30, 2002; TMA, Word Play (October 16, 2009- February 7, 2010)Label TextLanguage 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.