WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Lesley Dill

Lesley Dill

1950

WA-00013154

Mixed MediaPerformance ArtContemporary

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

70%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

WikidataQ6530475

Field Verification (2 fields)

1 cross-verified · 1 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (1)

Artist Index
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred35%

About

Why this artist matters now

Lesley Dill works across sculpture, print, performance, and sound to investigate how language shapes consciousness and the unconscious mind. Her practice treats words as material objects, embedding text into fiber, metal, and video installations that oscillate between the lyrical and the occult. Based in Brooklyn, Dill's multimedia approach resists a single formal vocabulary, instead allowing each medium to pursue a distinct aspect of linguistic and psychological inquiry.

Source: Artist Index · Trust score: 35% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Performance Art

Medium

Mixed Media

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (14)

WattsOS

Standing Man (#14)

1995 · Photoscreenprint with oil stick and thread additions

(irreg.) composition 52 1/4 x 41 3/16" (132.7 x 104.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

A Word Made Flesh...Throat

1994 · Photo-lithograph, color etching and aquatint on tea-stained mulberry paper, hand sewn on buff wove paper

Image/primary support: 74.7 × 56 cm (29 7/16 × 22 1/16 in.); Secondary support: 76.5 × 56.6 cm (30 1/8 × 22 5/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

A Word Made Flesh...Back

1994 · Photo-lithograph, color etching and aquatint on tea-stained mulberry paper, hand-sewn on buff wove paper

Image/primary support: 74.2 × 55 cm (29 1/4 × 21 11/16 in.); Secondary support: 76.5 × 56.7 cm (30 1/8 × 22 3/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

A Word Made Flesh...Arms

1994 · Photo-lithograph, etching, and aquatint on tea-stained mulberry paper, hand sewn on buff wove paper

Image/primary support: 73 × 55 cm (28 3/4 × 21 11/16 in.); Secondary support: 76.5 × 57 cm (30 1/8 × 22 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

A Word Made Flesh...Front

1994 · Photo-lithograph, etching, and aquatint on tea-stained mulberry paper, hand sewn on buff wove paper

Image/primary support: 73.2 × 55 cm (28 7/8 × 21 11/16 in.); Secondary support: 76.5 × 56.2 cm (30 1/8 × 22 3/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

A Word Made Flesh

1994 · set of four photolithographs, etching, and aquatint, with spit bite, scraper, sandpaper, and drypoint, in black and blue

Sheet: 74.7 x 56 cm (29 7/16 x 22 1/16 in.); Secondary Support: 76.2 x 56.3 cm (30 x 22 3/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Front

1994 · photolithograph, aquatint, etching, and sandpaper

Sheet: 72 x 54.5 cm (28 3/8 x 21 7/16 in.); Secondary Support: 76.2 x 57 cm (30 x 22 7/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Back

1994 · photolithograph, aquatint, etching, and spit bite

Sheet: 74 x 54.6 cm (29 1/8 x 21 1/2 in.); Secondary Support: 76.2 x 57 cm (30 x 22 7/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Arms

1994 · photolithograph, aquatint, etching, and sandpaper

Sheet: 73 x 54.9 cm (28 3/4 x 21 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 76.2 x 57 cm (30 x 22 7/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Throat

1994 · photolithograph, aquatint, etching, and spit bite

Sheet: 74.7 x 56 cm (29 7/16 x 22 1/16 in.); Secondary Support: 76.2 x 56.3 cm (30 x 22 3/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Poem Dress, "The Soul Selects Her Own Society"

1993 · Lithograph on Indian newspaper with thread additions

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Poem Eyes, plate 1 from the series The Poetic Body

1992 · Letterpress and rubber stamp with collage additions

composition (irreg.): 13 3/8 × 4 7/16" (33.9 × 11.3 cm); sheet: 17 11/16 × 13 5/16" (45 × 33.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Poem Gloves, plate 2 from the series The Poetic Body

1992 · Letterpress on silk, sewn onto paper

composition: 16 13/16 x 6 13/16" (42.7 x 17.3 cm); sheet: 18 1/16 x 13 1/4" (45.9 x 33.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

The Poetic Body: Poem Dress of Circulation; Poem Gloves; Poem Eyes;Poem Ears

1992 · Lithographs, letterpress , collage

Each Sheet approximately: 18 × 13 in. (45.7 × 33 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

View all 14 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

14 published of 14 catalogued · 4 with image

Cleveland Museum of Art
5 published
MoMA
4 published
Art Institute Chicago
4 published4 img
The Met
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 5)

5 entries · 1 sources

A Word Made Flesh
1994 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Front
1994 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Back
1994 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Arms
1994 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Throat
1994 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements2

Performance Art Contemporary

Collections3

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet