Writing an Artist Statement

ELD Standard 2: Language ArtsArt Academic Standards: 4.1.3.5.2, 6.2.1.5.3

…an Introduction to YOU: influences & muses values present in meaning of work

…an introduction to your ART:

choice of medium importance of subject matter

What is it?

“An effective statement reaches out

and welcomes people to your art, no matter how little or how much

they know about art to begin with;

it never excludes.”

http://www.artbusiness.com/artstate.html

a GOOD example:

KEN STEINBACHProfessor of Art, Artist

“I am interested in exploring our complex relationship with nature, in which simultaneously conflicting perspectives about the natural world are embraced. As Simon Schama has explored in his book, Landscape & Memory, the very act of identifying terms like “nature” and “landscape” implies an unavoidable application of values. Our experience with the natural world is never free of cultural, historical, and personal mythologies. These multiple perspectives are in constant collision, resulting in an understanding and relationship to nature that is in constant tension.”

http://formandcontent.org/67.htm

Did the statement prepare you to understand this artwork?

a POOR example:ELIZABETH HERMANSON

Literacy Instructor, Art Mentor, Artist

“I am intrigued in ordinary objects or situations that are translatable into line and when they converge, they are completely reformed. Their union and singularity give dimension to the whole. Topographical lines mirror wood grain and color transformations of spilled petroleum or cream in a cup of coffee. Objects such as a tree are most striking in their structure as opposed to the foliage or exterior embellishments. Only when it is bare can one fully experience its form, its silhouette, and its essence. It is through that bareness, the nakedness of contour, that meaning can be found, that moments can be combined and shared. My visual language internalizes an image into a linear presence in order to describe a significant experience. Every work of art is an expressive diversion rather than a depiction of observations.”

Did the statement

prepare you to understand

this artwork?

Let me explain…

+ clear and concise

+ selective descriptions

- No mention of medium & importance

+ mentions influences

+ doesn’t explain away artwork

+ proper grammar & mechanics

- lengthy & confusing

- wordy, too many images

+/- mentions art principles, but not medium choice

+/- influences limited to “ambiguous” objects/situations

- explains process of creating

- some grammar issues, run-ons

KENNETH STEINBACH ELIZABETH HERMANSON

Starting to Write:Questions to Ask

Yourself What am I doing?

How am I doing it?

Why am I doing it?

What influences me the most?

What do I want others to understand?

How does my art relate to my surrounding environment?

Is there a connection between subject and choice of medium?

We have... studied our writing skills! studied grammar &

mechanics! looked at advertisements

and how they sell ideas! used our creativity in

many different projects!

and so you say, WHY???

And now it is time to PRACTICE!