His interests have also led to the soulful power found in the earnest, visual art of the amateur and self-trained artists. Dilg collects a wide range of images and he is especially interested in the ability of the "primitive" to be "elegant" --- where intimacy and poignancy take precedence over any agreed upon version of "beauty." His favorite geographies include the Columbia River Highway of the Pacific Northwest and the Upper Mississippi River. Dilg is based in Iowa City, IA, where he is on the faculty of the University of Iowa. He is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, with a double focus in painting and filmmaking, and has exhibited extensively in the Midwest and New York.