Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me

An Exhibition by Lesley Dill

May 28 - September 12

Hubbard Gallery

Coming to Canterbury Shaker Village Saturday, May 28, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me features a uniquely inspired group of sculptures and two-dimensional works more than a decade in the making. The exhibition represents renowned artist Lesley Dill’s ongoing investigation into the significant voices and personas of America’s past.

For Dill, the “American” voice, grew from early America’s obsessions with divinity and deviltry, on fears of the wilderness “out there” and wilderness inside us. The extremes of both shaped history and gave pulse and heat to the words of activists like John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Mother Ann Lee, and Dred Scott. Dill writes: “These personas and their times stir something deep in my own family history and sense of self. I am compelled to this restrictive time-period of limited access to a diversity of written word, and the bravery of these figures’ response.” 

The book Lesley Dill: Wilderness, Light Sizzles Around Meby Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurichis available in conjunction with the exhibition and features essays by Nancy Princenthal, Andrew Wallace and others.

This exhibition is Organized by the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa.

All are invited to an Artist Talk with Lesley Dill on Friday, June 10th, from 5 – 7 pm. View Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me and learn about Dill’s creative process and the inspiration behind this exhibition.

Dill’s works are a platform for promoting cultural literacy and American history. Her incorporation of language throughout the exhibition links her works to American literary tradition. Dill’s sculptures and banners derive their power from the lives and words of the people her works represent.

Pre-registration is required. Limited capacity. Register for the event:

Thank you to the Coby Foundation for supporting this exhibition.