Writing Your Artist's Statement
FOR ARTISTS:
WRITING
ABOUT YOUR
ART
Your Artist's Statement
Laureen Marchand
Grasslands Gallery
www.grasslandsgallery.com
www.grasslandsgallery.com
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Writing Your Artist's Statement
This report is free to download and use. I made it for you, so your artistic career
can be easier and more successful. You're welcome to share the report. Please don't
reproduce any part of it without crediting me and telling me where you used it.
That's against the law, and it isn't the kind of person you want to be anyway.
If you enjoy the report and find it useful, or if you send it to someone else so they
can use it, I'd love it if you would let me know. I'm at
[email protected]. If you see possible improvements, you're very
welcome to tell me about those too.
And please consider going to www.grasslandsgallery.com and signing up for
weekly blog updates. The blog is a series of posts from one artist/art gallery owner’s
life in her community in one of Canada’s most beautiful and remote wilderness
regions. I hope you will find yourself and your spirit reflected in it.
Grasslands Gallery showcases and sells original art and craft by many of
Saskatchewan’s finest artists, inspired by the Grasslands experience – one-of-akind memories of an amazing place. The gallery also offers art classes and
workshops. And through the Artist Mentoring page on the website, I support
artists to the next stage in their exhibiting careers. If you sign up for blog updates,
you'll always be the first to know when any new products are added that will make
your artistic career easier to handle.
Enjoy!
Laureen Marchand
Grasslands Gallery
www.grasslandsgallery.com
www.grasslandsgallery.com
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Writing Your Artist's Statement
Most artists don't want to. But you'll probably need to write about your art
sooner or later. And that's because most galleries want something they can
offer viewers as an introduction to your artwork, or to a specific exhibition,
or to a specific piece. Even if you avoid galleries and gatekeepers
completely, your viewers and maybe your buyers will often have
questions. Your artist's statement helps answer those questions when
you're not there, or you're too busy, or when the person who'd really like to
know the answers is too embarrassed or to shy to ask. Almost everyone
will welcome some help in appreciating what you intended and why and
how.
That's what an artist's statement is. It's a written description of what, how,
and why you do what you do. It's from your own perspective. It can be a
bridge into your artwork for a viewer.
And believe it or not, writing your artist's statement can help you, the
artist. For you, it can be a way to reflect on what you’ve made and where
it's headed. It's amazing how many times you'll come back to the artist's
statement that was so hard to write, and you'll think, "I didn't even know I
knew that! I didn’t know that's what I wanted my work to be."
Translating from a visual to a verbal medium isn't easy for many artists.
Writing an artist’s statement requires that you understand your own work
in a way you may not have done before. When it comes time to start
writing, or to revise something you already wrote, it might help to ask
yourself some questions:
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What am I doing?
How am I doing it?
Why am I doing it?
What interests me?
What influences me?
What inspires me?
What subjects do I prefer?
What processes do I use?
www.grasslandsgallery.com
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Writing Your Artist's Statement
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What are my goals with this art?
What do I want other people to understand about my art?
How is my current art related to my past art?
Does my artwork mean more if it is viewed in a particular context?
If so, what and why?
Are there aspects of my work I don’t want to discuss? If so, what and
why?
 Above all, what do I want people to know?
This doesn’t mean your statement needs to include all the answers you
come up with. In fact, it's probably better that it doesn't. An artist's
statement should be two or three or five paragraphs, a few hundred words
at most. Shorter is better than longer. But the more information you have,
the easier it will be for you to decide what to say.
Be assured, most good artist’s statements aren't written in one sitting.
Usually a draft needs to be edited and re-edited before it’s usable. Often the
writing process is a matter of getting down everything you can think of,
then deciding what to take out. You can try moving sentences or sections
around to different places, or removing them entirely. Sometimes you’ll
need to come back to your statement over a period of days or weeks before
what you’re saying, and what someone else might read, becomes clear.
Remember, an artist's statement is meant to clarify. It's meant to give the
reader a better idea of what to expect from your art or a better idea of how
to see it. An artist's statement is meant to help. Avoid jargon. Avoid
vagueness. Be specific. On the other hand, an artist's statement isn't meant
to tell anyone what to think or how to react. You want a bridge, not a
gangplank. Avoid insisting there's only one way to see your work or think
about it or understand it.
Imagine – your artist's statement might let someone else appreciate and
value your artwork better. Why wouldn’t you want that?
www.grasslandsgallery.com
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Writing Your Artist's Statement
Some general tips on writing about art (or about anything!)
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Use language any reader can understand.
Take out unnecessary words.
Be sure to use sentences.
Be sure to use good grammar and correct spelling.
Make logical transitions between ideas and paragraphs.
Choose clarity over artistry.
Come back to revise the statement as many times as you need to.
When you're pretty sure it's finished, get someone else to read it and
provide feedback.
 If your reader makes suggestions, or there's something s/he doesn’t
understand, go back to the writing again. This doesn't mean there's
something wrong with the statement. It might mean you've been
given a gift of insight you might not have had otherwise. Accept the
gift.
 Rinse and repeat.
And when you're done, congratulate yourself. You deserve it.
Good luck!
www.grasslandsgallery.com
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