Dill creates what he has named “Light Plains “works from sand, glass panes and argon-filled glass tubes. The light from submerged light tubes illuminates the perimeters of the glass panes in an ethereal manner. Resting the glass directly on the light tubes results in reflective, fractured casts of light, which are variously illuminated in the panes of glass. The sand comes in three tones, all sourced locally wherever the work is installed – in this case originally in Southern California and now in Alabama, where it was selected and installed by the artist on a visit to Alabama. The sand thus borders a wall, infills the spaces between the panes, and continues in a flow to the floor, forming a tectonic structure through the interplay of earth, light, and glass. Describing Dill’s incorporation of sand, glass and neon or argon lights, Malcolm Morano comments that the Lights Plains sculptures “create a fiber optic effect that appears as though it has been exhumed from the earth’s core.”
The Brooklyn Rail | November 2022 | In Conversation
