Voices In My Head
Sep 21 - Oct 28, 1995
On September 21, the George Adams Gallery, formerly the Frumkin/Adams Gallery, will open with an exhibition of a new series of works by Lesley Dill titled Voices in My Head. In these new works Dill continues her exploration of the figure and the expressive poetry of Emily Dickinson, but with a completely new emphasis on scale and texture.
The exhibition consists of large - 12 feet long - hanging cloths of muslin or gauze, each silkscreened with an image of a figure or part of a figure. The surface is stained with tea, paint and varnish, and in most cases collaged with pieces of cloth, stitched with thread, or even burned. Fragments of Emily Dickinson's poems are painted directly on the figure, or are stamped on or below the images, even cut out of the cloth. The inspiration for this series are the Buddhist prayer flags that captivated Dill during her stays in India and Nepal. These flags, pieces of cloth on which prayers have been printed, are hung, sometimes in great numbers, outside of temples or in sacred places to blow in the wind. Used to convey prayers, they are imbued with a powerful sense of spirituality.
In Poem Voice #1, 1995, for example, a large head on a dark ground dominates the upper half of a heavy muslin cloth. Tea and varnish have darkened the cloth and flow over the head, while a fragment of a Dickinson poem covers the mouth. In another, Double Ghost Poem Girl 1995, a figure has been screened, barely discernible, on two pieces of gauze, one figure a shadow of the other.
Exhibition Checklist
1. Untitled (Delight, Bliss, Murder), 1995
paint, shellac, newsprint, plaster, tea on wood
71 x 14 x 10 inches
s 64
2. Poem Thread Man (This was a Poet), 1995
oil paint and thread on silverprint
73 x 41 1/2 inches
d 46
3. 4 Poem Figure, 1995
thread and silkscreen on tea stained muslin
136 x 110 inches
4. Rolled up Poem Girl (I took my power in my hand...), 1995
acrylic and oil paint, thread, wire on silkscreened and tea stained muslin cloth
156 x 45 inches
p 03
5. Threaded Poem Face #2 (This is a blossom of the brain..), 1995
oil paint, thread, wire and gold leaf on silkscreened and tea stained muslin cloth
153 x 47 inches
p 17
6. Visionary, 1995
paint on silkscreened and tea stained muslin cloth
151 1/2 x 44 inches
p 01
7. Poem Eater Man (Hope is a subtle glutton), 1995
paint, wire, thread on tea stained muslin cloth
156 x 44 inches
p 15
8. Scrolled Torso (Beauty Crowds Me Till I Die), 1995
ink, shellac wire,thread on tea stained muslin cloth
147 x 77 inches
p 05
9. Wire Poem (The soul has bandaged Moments), 1995
wire
120 x 240 inches
s 95
10. Poem Spill (One need not be a chamber to be haunted), 1995
paint, plaster, collage, wire and wood
105 x 12 x 8 inches
s 66
11. Rolled-up Poem Hands (I felt my Life with both My Hands), 1995
oil paint, shellac, thread and wire on silkscreena and tea stained muslin cloth
154 x 45 inches
p 9
12. Poem Voice (A Single screw of flesh), 1995
oil paint and resin on silkscreened and tea stained muslin cloth
158 x 46 inches
p 10
13. Poem Eyes (These saw visions...), 1995
paint, collage, thread on silkscreened and tea stained muslin cloth
149 x 75 inches
p 11