Apr 15, 2010 image by emagic this is a guest post from artist hannah piper burns. It offers insight into a single piece or an entire body of work and by describing the artist s creative process, philosophy, vision, and passion. Artist statement how to write an artist statement advice. Writing an artist statement is one of the most important first things a home based jewelry business can do.
A s a professional artist, you need to have more than your work to get around in the art world. A general introduction to your work, a body of work, or a specific project. Your statement should answer the most commonly asked questions about your art, not overwhelm readers with irrelevant facts and minute details. Maybe its because artists are such visual thinkers, or maybe because its literally impossible to translate between mediums. Think about and include details of a couple of these. Whatever the reason, writing a new statement is enough to make anyone pull out their hair. How to write an artists statement that doesnt suck online. Aug 26, 2014 great guidelines for anybody looking to write or rewrite their artist statement. Briefly explain and express your connection to your art.
Identify what you want the people to understand about your art. As a particularly unforgiving medium, an artist has endless creative opportunities to design for its unique properties the only limitations are their imagination and skill in working with the material. It is also common for people to confuse the biography with the statement, and some even confuse these texts with something like a cv, or an actual cv. An artist statement can be from 5001,000 words, or so. Give yourself a time limit, such as 515 minutes, and set a timer.
Using discarded, trashed items, booker remade them into statements. Make it easy for them to fall in love with your work. The brief verbal representation is for, and in support of, their own work to give the viewer understanding. Artist bio artist statement article writing content. An artist s statement or artist statement is an artist s written description of their work. Writing an artist s statement can be a good way to clarify your own ideas about your work. Jan 28, 2018 the statement should also cover the artists inspirations and an overall view of previous work, inspiration and most important events of your career, to give a good sense of your story as an artist. Bookers artistic practice is a way for her to navigate the african american diaspora. When writing your art statement try to keep your text clean and use approachable and try to avoid too much, artsy talk or overflourishing. A quick guide your artist statement is a written description of your work that gives your audience deeper insight into it. Your artist statement is a chance to make that connection. Part of my process before i begin painting is to read as much as i can about the specific set of ruins i am about to recreate on canvas.
Dont you agree that writing an artist statement is one of the more intimidating tasks youre asked to do thats where your artist statement comes in. This should be written in first person and contain information about the current direction of your work. Londonbased artist celina teague explores the statement that people. As if writing music could begin by staring with a magnifying glass at natures elements. Weve also included a handy dos and donts checklist to ensure you avoid common mistakes.
Your artist statement is an introduction to your work, not an indepth analysis of it. Toril bookerfisher artwork now on display at driftless cafe wdrt. Sample artist statements getting your sht together. How to write an amazing artist statement artsy shark. Ensure you write your artist statement in the first person. A guide to crafting a clear and compelling artist statement by sarah hotchkiss, with illustrations by beena mistry. My work for the past 20 years has used revealing aspects of history, which have a profound impact on our contemporary culture today. An artist statement is piece of writing by you that helps the audience access or understand your artistic work. Your artist statement and images help them connect with you and your art. Your artist statement should feel like its written by you, the artistnot by a critical theorist or an art history professor or a dealer or a curator. Revealing the true spirit of your work ariane goodwin on. How to write an effective artist bio that wont be ignored. She has had solo exhibitions at the neuberger museum of art, the akron. Have fun writing your artists statement professional.
As such it aims to inform, connect with an art context, and present the basis for the work. Repurposing discarded tires, booker slices, twists, weaves, and rivets them. Artist statements are particularly susceptible to these traps because we write what we think people want to hear instead of whats actually true to our work. A gallery dealer, curator, docent, or the public can have access to your description of your work, in your own words. The art of the artist statement ramona defelice long. Writing your artist statement page by margaret maggie brezden artist statement an artist statement is not only an essential part of an artist portfolio but may be required to accompany a particular artpiece or body of work. Your artist statement is about your art, not about you. To reach wider audiences, lets find an alternative to artspeak. Artist chakaia booker gives tires a powerful retread. Jan, 2020 an artist s statement is a short document written by the artist which provides a window into the artist s world. To help you write an artist statement worthy of your art, we put together this stepbystep process.
Writing an artist statement allows you to clarify ideas behind your work. Give yourself time to think about how you want to express the importance of family, environment, politics, time, space, material, color and anything else pertinent to your work. Writing an artist statement home jewelry business guide. This is the process of writing your artists statement in a spontaneous or automatic manner without any hesitation. This all sounds good, but for an 11 year old, the how, what and why questions are pretty abstract. Artists should be very articulate, both verbally and in writing, about what makes them tick as artists. Artist statement guidelines getting your sht together gystink. When asked for an artist statement, toril hesitates to write a formal statement about her work for fear of making frozen comments that potentially.
Gyst submission policies, examples of artist statements, and writing tips are found below. It is written in the first person, while artist bios are. More often than not, students become stuck on what to write, feeling like they might. Writing an artist statement feature gallery direct article. Not only does it serve as a base for your jewelry brand, artist statements are used as part of the application process for juried craft shows, in your website, and on marketing materials. Revealing the true spirit of your work guides artists, of all genres, on how to smoke out the relevant ideas they already possess about their art.
Write a threeparagraph statement about your work of art integrating the three methods of analysis. Artist statement guidelines getting your sht together. Jun 14, 2018 an artist statement takes time to develop. Tips for writing a convincing artist statement who are you. An artist statement is different to an artist biography. Writing an artist statement cleveland institute of art.
May 12, 2014 so instead of a bio thats just fluff on the flyer, lets learn how to write an effective artist bio that will actually bring your potential fans into your world. Often referencing american history, my work explores the varying relationships between popular culture and fine art. An artist statement is a brief statement which tells us about the art. Because the good news is, in spite of selfconscious objections about writing, artists can recover their own words. Most often placed on your website, but also included in portfolios and presentations to galleries and other art professionals, its the most direct way to clarify how you view your work. The guardian writes a wider range of female voices is finally being. Nov 17, 2017 it is common to find biographies and photographers statements when visiting a photographers work. Customize your artists statement for the individuals andor audience that will be reading it. For being such great communicators, most artists have a really tough time communicating what their art is about. First ask yourself these four questions academia is only one part of the art world, says daniel blight. As an artist, she addresses these issues through visual metaphor. How to write a short artist statement tina dubinsky art writer. Your statement should be a brief section of writing that compels the reader to want to view your work and learn more about it. Therefore, the artist statement should be short, concise and well written in a.
Many find that writing an artist statement reveals ideas in the work that need additional clarification and development. Artist chakaia booker gives tires a powerful retread at the. How to write an artist statement in 7 steps format. For general purposes aim for an artists statement that is to 100200 words. Your statement should include whatever is most important to you and your work.
Guidelines for writing the artists statement should be at least three paragraphs in length one paragraph for each analytic method. Your artist s statement should be one to two paragraphs and no longer than a page. Jun, 2010 the artist statement is a document the grant agency uses to allow the artist to give voice to how the grant will help their career or work. Artist statement my work is often inspired by natures geometry, structure and textures. How to write an artist statement flying arts alliance. Most commonly, statements introduce a specific collection of art. Useful in writing a proposal for an exhibition or project. How to write an artist statement, quick and effective tips. In this mode, ignore spelling, grammar, punctuation, neatness and style. Writing an artist statement artist statements can take many forms depending on their intended use. Sample artist statementsbios full page artist statement. As an artist, i work hard to develop paintings that speak both to me and to others about the beauty that exists in the ruins of ancient societies. How to write an artist statement the creative independent. Writing an artist statement can be a daunting task for middle school students.
Chakaia booker reveals recycled tires art exhibit in urbn the. Sam durant my artwork takes a critical view of social, political and cultural issues. Your artists statement can be a moving testament to your creativity and integrity. Along with your portfolio, you should have an artist statement available at a moments notice. As an artist, do you know how to present your work with clarity, confidence and professional credibility. Write whatever thoughts come to mind about why you create your art. Sometimes mind mapping isnt enough because you can get trapped in. Your artist statement is not a comprehensive description of your workinstead think of the statement as leading into the work. What is brilliant to you may be a morass of confused declarations that make no sense to others. May 11, 2014 this feature is not available right now.
Booker empowers her monumental sculptures with new life, shaped by the shearing and. Im trying help my 11 year old daughter write an artist statement for a school art project that is going to be submitted to a contest. Probably only when you buy one or it goes flat, bell writes in the exhibition catalog. The artist statement is speaking to the viewer in the artists absence. A response to a specific inquiry by a gallery or collector a response to a particular grant proposal in conjunction with a curatorial statement or exhibition helps you talk intelligently talk about your work helps you articulate your influences, the sources for their imagery. For example, an artists statement that you write to a grant foundation will be more complex than the one you post on your website to a general audience. At the gallery, there is posted a statement written by isaacs on bookers work. The expression of this commitment will vary, but the effectiveness of your artists statement stems from the authority with which you write it.