For many artists, writing an artist statement is not easy, especially when you haven't been writing them already for years. When coming up with my first post-graduate artist statement, I scoured the web looking for an easy and simple guideline on writing a good artist statement. Many of them had pages of information on all the "Do's and Don'ts" of writing them, and generally just an overload of information. I wanted a simple and straightforward approach that would give me some real content for my artist statement. Questions, I wanted just some simple direct questions and an outline to guide me to the right things to say about my art so I could explain it to anyone.
I found the basis of my artist statement by asking myself a few questions based on my art and the processes behind it. The questions allowed me to directly focus on the important aspects of what motivates and drives me to make my art. And to figure out what I think about my art, before I start to worry over what other people might think about it. All of this put together, along with my half-way decent writing skills, allowed me to write a professional artist statement in about an hour (with a little extra time to let it sink in and go over it again).
I found the basis of my artist statement by asking myself a few questions based on my art and the processes behind it. The questions allowed me to directly focus on the important aspects of what motivates and drives me to make my art. And to figure out what I think about my art, before I start to worry over what other people might think about it. All of this put together, along with my half-way decent writing skills, allowed me to write a professional artist statement in about an hour (with a little extra time to let it sink in and go over it again).
The information below is summarized into a one page downloadable file at the end of this post!
Ask yourself these questions about your current works, and write down the answers (in one or more sentences):
· Why do I like to make art?
· What makes my art special to me?
· Who or what inspires me? Why?
· What materials/techniques/processes do I use? Why?
· How is my work different from others?
· What does my art look/feel like to me? What does it say or do?
· What limitations/rules do I give myself? Why?
· What did I learn from making this art?
The content within these answers will help you to start to fill in the details of your artist statement.
Your artist statement needs to be at least three paragraphs and no longer than a page. Make sure to speak in the present tense (“I am” not “I was”). Also make sure to speak from the first person (“I, me, my”) perspective. Your artist statement should include words and terms that everyone can understand, and should be a true representation of you and your artwork. Be nice to yourself and your art, save the critiquing for the critics!
The general outline of a simple artist statement can look as follows:
1) General Information
a) Why you do what you do
b) What you want your work to say or do
c) Rules and limitations you give yourself, or why you don’t
d) Influences and themes within your works
2) Specific Information
a) How you make your art: processes/methods/techniques
b) What your art looks likes: colors/themes/marks
c) What makes your art different from others
d) How you make decisions through the process of creating your art
3) Summary Information
a) How this work grew out of prior work or experiences
b) Why this art is special to you
c) Obstacles and lessons learned through making this art
d) Reflections on this work
4) Biographical Information (OPTIONAL)
a) Age, Region, Early influence/start
b) Education
c) Other personal tidbits or awards (but save most of it for your Artist Resume!)
Start filling in the information you have from your answers above, and extrapolate from there. You should have a concise and accurate artist statement in no time at all! Read it through out loud, to a friend, make sure it sounds like you, and explains your art to anyone. Good writing and happy creating!
· Why do I like to make art?
· What makes my art special to me?
· Who or what inspires me? Why?
· What materials/techniques/processes do I use? Why?
· How is my work different from others?
· What does my art look/feel like to me? What does it say or do?
· What limitations/rules do I give myself? Why?
· What did I learn from making this art?
The content within these answers will help you to start to fill in the details of your artist statement.
Your artist statement needs to be at least three paragraphs and no longer than a page. Make sure to speak in the present tense (“I am” not “I was”). Also make sure to speak from the first person (“I, me, my”) perspective. Your artist statement should include words and terms that everyone can understand, and should be a true representation of you and your artwork. Be nice to yourself and your art, save the critiquing for the critics!
The general outline of a simple artist statement can look as follows:
1) General Information
a) Why you do what you do
b) What you want your work to say or do
c) Rules and limitations you give yourself, or why you don’t
d) Influences and themes within your works
2) Specific Information
a) How you make your art: processes/methods/techniques
b) What your art looks likes: colors/themes/marks
c) What makes your art different from others
d) How you make decisions through the process of creating your art
3) Summary Information
a) How this work grew out of prior work or experiences
b) Why this art is special to you
c) Obstacles and lessons learned through making this art
d) Reflections on this work
4) Biographical Information (OPTIONAL)
a) Age, Region, Early influence/start
b) Education
c) Other personal tidbits or awards (but save most of it for your Artist Resume!)
Start filling in the information you have from your answers above, and extrapolate from there. You should have a concise and accurate artist statement in no time at all! Read it through out loud, to a friend, make sure it sounds like you, and explains your art to anyone. Good writing and happy creating!
Click here to read an artist statement I wrote in less than an hour using this guideline
| If you really liked this blog post Share it, save it, love it <3 Come back for more | Click here to download this file to keep! 
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Here are a couple of other short and simple things I found on writing an artist statement:
http://www.saic.edu/media/saic/pdfs/lifesaic/careerco-opcenter/workingartistsseries/Handout_WorkingArtist_WritingYourArtistStatement.pdf
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/6491363/
http://www.saic.edu/media/saic/pdfs/lifesaic/careerco-opcenter/workingartistsseries/Handout_WorkingArtist_WritingYourArtistStatement.pdf
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/6491363/
COME BACK ON FEBRUARY 9TH FOR MY NEXT BLOG POST!
Have a topic or post suggestion you'd like to see me post? Let me know!
Here is my (very malleable) schedule for upcoming blog posts:
-February 16th: Featured artist: Archan Nair
-February 23rd: ARTicle
-March 2nd: Inspiration post/Pinterest Board feature
-March 9th: My creative processes
-March 16th: Featured artist:____________ (tbd)
-March 23rd: ARTicle
-March 30th: BIRTHDAY BLOG! (A reflection on 28 years of living a creative life)
Here is my (very malleable) schedule for upcoming blog posts:
-February 16th: Featured artist: Archan Nair
-February 23rd: ARTicle
-March 2nd: Inspiration post/Pinterest Board feature
-March 9th: My creative processes
-March 16th: Featured artist:____________ (tbd)
-March 23rd: ARTicle
-March 30th: BIRTHDAY BLOG! (A reflection on 28 years of living a creative life)
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