ARTIST STATEMENTSEXPLANATION AND EXAMPLE

ARTIST STATEMENT: WHAT IS IT?A written statement that explains your artwork.

ARTIST STATEMENT: WHAT IS IT?A written statement that explains your artwork.

(simple, huh?)

ARTIST STATEMENT: WHAT IS IT?A written statement that explains your artwork.

(simple, huh?)

Simple, but not easy. An artist statement is always in development, just like your work.

THE VALUE OF AN ARTIST STATEMENT• Helps gallery directors, art consultants, and others

understand, explain, and sell your work.

THE VALUE OF AN ARTIST STATEMENT• Helps gallery directors, art consultants, and others

understand, explain, and sell your work.• Helps critics, biographers, and catalog essayists to

prepare articles and reviews about you.

THE VALUE OF AN ARTIST STATEMENT• Helps gallery directors, art consultants, and others

understand, explain, and sell your work.• Helps critics, biographers, and catalog essayists to

prepare articles and reviews about you. • Can be used for grant applications and project proposals.

WHAT TO INCLUDE• Type of work (WHAT you make)

WHAT TO INCLUDE• Type of work (WHAT you make)• Technical aspects (HOW you make it)

WHAT TO INCLUDE• Type of work (WHAT you make)• Technical aspects (HOW you make it)• Philosophy of work (WHY you make it the way you do)

DO NOT INCLUDE• Pompous, overly grand statements. Be REAL.

DO NOT INCLUDE• Pompous, overly grand statements. Be REAL.• “I am attempting.” It sounds like maybe you aren’t

succeeding.

DO NOT INCLUDE• Pompous, overly grand statements. Be REAL.• “I am attempting.” It sounds like maybe you aren’t

succeeding.• Technical explanations. Retain a little mystery, and don’t

give away your secrets.

DO NOT INCLUDE• Pompous, overly grand statements. Be REAL.• “I am attempting.” It sounds like maybe you aren’t

succeeding.• Technical explanations. Retain a little mystery, and don’t

give away your secrets.• Jargon and clichés.

DO NOT INCLUDE• Pompous, overly grand statements. Be REAL.• “I am attempting.” It sounds like maybe you aren’t

succeeding.• Technical explanations. Retain a little mystery, and don’t

give away your secrets.• Jargon and clichés.• Commandments like, “You will see…”.

EXAMPLEHuman behavior provides endless inspiration for visual comment. A strong sense of the absurd guides me as I look. Laughter, they say, is good medicine. Collage, like no other medium lets me play with the concept of the absurd. Many of my collages are satirical, but tenderness, too, is good medicine and some of them are sympathetic. Small in scale, they involve large themes and continue the tradition of collage being a medium for social comment and change. My work also continues the collage tradition of using commonplace materials. That now includes images from mercantile catalogues and advertisements and recycled objects. Each element has meaning. The images are figurative and symbolic. Contemporary life is viewed through the lenses of legend and literature often referring to women. I often use a circular format. Concept, process and finished product are equally important to me.

Remove fluff. Two groups of information: 1. Inspiration, 2. Materials.

Group like information together for coherence and impact.

GET STARTED!1. On post-it notes, write three to five words that describe your

work (one word per card). Be sure to answer the HOW, WHAT, and WHY of your work.

2. Ask people who know your work if you feel these words describe your work. Change them if needed.

3. Post them somewhere in your living space for a day or so. Change them if needed.

4. When you have the words you’re comfortable with, develop them into 2-3 sentences each.

5. Develop those sentences into a complete paragraph or paragraphs.