Assignment
What Is an Artist's Statement?
An artist statement is an introduction to you and your work. It is the verbal component of your visual work. Although you may want the work to speak for itself, your viewer will have questions about who you are and what inspired you to create a piece of art or body of work.
This is your voice when you are not present to speak for yourself.
1. It should be clear, concise, and to the point, being no more than 2-3 paragraphs. It should open with the work's basic ideas in the first paragraph and go into more detail about the issues/ideas are presented in the second paragraph. The third paragraph should summarize the most important points in the statement.
2. You will be writing a full page statement. Please keep in mind the following:
o Why you have created the work and its history.
o Your overall vision (what were you trying to say visually with the work)
o What were you trying to say visually through the use of colour, brush strokes, size, etc.
o Sources and inspiration for your images.
o Artists you have been influenced by or how your work relates to other artists' work. Other influences.
o How a certain technique is important to the work.
o Your philosophy of art making or of the work's origin.
Ask yourself these questions while writing your statement:
o Why do I make my art?
o What inspires me to make it?
o What does it signify or represent
o What is unique or special about how I make it
o What does it mean to me?
More resources about artist statements:
https://www.agora-gallery.com/advice/blog/2015/05/12/how-to-write-an-artist-statement/
https://www.gyst-ink.com/artist-statement-guidelines/
Why Write an Artist's Statement?
1. Writing an artist's statement can be a good way to clarify your own ideas about your work.
2. A gallery dealer, curator, docent, or the public can have access to your description of your work, in your own words. This can be good for a reviewer as well.
3. Useful in writing a proposal for an exhibition or project.
4. It is often required when applying for funding.
5. It is often required when applying to graduate school.
6. It can be a good idea to include an artist's statement when your slides are requested for review or your work is included in the slide library of a college or university.
7. Good to refer to when you are preparing a visiting artist lecture, or someone else is lecturing or writing about your work.
8. Useful when you are applying for a teaching position.
9. Good idea when a press release is being written.
10. Useful when someone is writing about your work in a catalog or magazine.
11. Useful when someone else is writing a bio for a program brochure.
12. It is a good way to introduce your work to a buying public. Often the more a buyer knows about your work the more they become interested in what you do, and in purchasing a work.
How Should I Write It?
1. Ask yourself "What are you trying to say in the work?" "What influences my work?" "How do my methods of working (techniques, style, formal decisions) support the content of my work?" "What are specific examples of this in my work" "Does this statement conjure up any images?"
2. Refer to yourself in the first person, not as "the artist". Make it come from you. Make it singular, not general, and reflective of yourself and your work.
3. Make it clear and direct, concise and to the point.
4. It should not be longer than one page.
5. Use no smaller than 10 - 12 point type. Some people have trouble reading very small type.
6. Artist's statements are usually single-spaced.
7. Do not use fancy fonts or tricky formatting. The information should wow them, not the graphic design.
Considerations:
1. Who is your audience? What level are you writing for?
2. What will your statement be used for?
3. What does your statement say about you as an artist and a professional?
Style:
1. Be honest.
2. Try to capture your own speaking voice.
3. Avoid repetition of phrases and words. Look for sentences that say the same thing you said before, but in a different way. Choose the better of the two.
4. Vary sentence structure and length. The length of a sentence should relate to the complexity of the idea.
5. Organization of detail is important. Significant ideas should be at the end of each sentence for emphasis.
https://www.agora-gallery.com/advice/blog/2015/05/12/how-to-write-an-artist-statement/
https://www.gyst-ink.com/artist-statement-guidelines/