This page focuses on your artist's statement. An artist's statement is an artist's written verbal description of their work. It is a brief verbal representation that supports his or her own work to give the viewer understanding. As such it, aims to inform, connect with an art context, and presents the basis for the work; it is, therefore, didactic, descriptive, and reflective in nature.
Example 1: Click here to understand how to write an artist statement. Example 2: Click here to see an outline of an artist statement and examples from varies artists.
What information should be included? Like an introduction to a book, your statement presents the fundamental underpinnings of your art; write it for people who are about to read "your book," not those who've already read it. In three to five paragraphs of three to five sentences each, provide basic information like:
Paragraph 1: WHY YOU MAKE YOUR ART Paragraph 2: HOW YOU MAKE IT Paragraph 3: WHAT IT'S MADE OUT OF Paragraph 4: WHAT YOUR ART MEANS TO YOU.
Here are some questions you can answer to help you start your statement:
Why do you create art and what does it mean to you?
How does the creation of art make you feel? What emotions do you wish to convey?
If the statement refers to a specific piece, why did you choose to represent this piece in this way? What do you call the piece and why? What materials did you use? What are the dimensions of the piece?
What inspires you? How are your inspirations expressed in your work?
What message are you trying to convey to the viewer?
How much time is spent creating your pieces?
How is your work a reflection of you?
What artists (living or dead) have influenced you?
What are your goals for the future?
What are your techniques and style and how do these relate to the medium?
REQUIREMENTS: 100 pts.
The artist statement for your portfolio should be a maximum of 1 page. Typed, double spaced. The statement needs to be uploaded in the Artist Statement page in your online portfolio. *For those students who have written a statement from last year please edit, modify, change, and add more to your statement. Take out the elements that aren't relevant of this year. Focus on your progress from this year. Your skills, your themes, your style, etc...Don't start over but make it better.
STUDENT EXAMPLE I:
Student Example II:
I have always referred to art as a something that I enjoy doing, not something that I was told to do. I see it as a way to let me express myself and my favorite style using realistic techniques. I have always thought that by creating detailed and specific pictures, it will help to bring the image to life, which is why I always love to work with this type of style. And by working this way, I also discovered my love for the mediums charcoal and soft pastels. I feel like they help to create the right values and perfect color shades to make a unique piece. But in order to create my work, I start off with a general plan or outline based on what I am aiming to create. From then on, I just work on a steady path, coursing my way throughout the piece until I finish it. And at the end, adding a few finishing detail touches until I am completely satisfied with it. As a rising artist myself, I try to find my own unique perspective on what I like to create when it comes to art. I prefer a more fantasy like picture or a realistic image of a person or object. The majority of my pieces are always based off something that I have seen in my life whether it from a personal photograph or a drawing, or just something that stands out. I take pictures of those scenes and put them on paper. But whenever I am not working on a larger piece, I am sketching in a notebook or journal. Drawing out pictures of different scenes, people, and anything else that I create put of my pure imagination. Sometimes I take these sketches and use them for my bigger pieces. But one similarity that all my pieces share is that they tell a story of what they mean, what they represent, and even describing its purpose which I hope to share with those who look at them and are able to understand the detail and realistic qualities mixed in among the work. Art has always been part of my life. Ever since I was small, I always had a passion for it. The reason for that is because in art, you can create anything you like, expressing yourself through everything that you love and telling the world who you are. And just how everyone else has their own personal opinions to what they draw, I do as well by drawing what I like because all art is unique, and no one can replace this feeling that I have.
Student Example III: I’ve never been able to draw a picture based on some skewed depiction laying in the deepest crevices of my mind. Drawing just isn’t a forcible attribute for me; it’s this natural feeling to paint or draw that object that I’m seeing. At times, it comes from a physical inspiration such as someone I notice with enthralling eyes or an aspect of nature that I find especially intriguing. I often focus on living things as subjects because that’s how I can connect my art to the read world. Although, none of my pieces have the same core subject; I like to vary in what I draw because I believe that there are so many aspects of the world with the same artistic potential. Along those lines, I wouldn’t say that I have a specific medium or technique that I use but rather dictate the colors and forms on the picture itself. From early on in my artistic career, I was deeply fascinated by pop art. It’s vibrant colors and unworldly depictions characterized by deep, dark lines seemed to me like the most engaging type of artwork. Not long after, though, I realized I wanted to create art that more evidently conveyed reality. For this reason, I've experimented frequently with charcoal and creating light and dark shades in my more recent artwork. These create realistic figures but also various shades. These shades and colors then translate to shapes. I’m not a large fan of abstract or impressionist art and so my paintings usually have more defined structures. Organization, in my opinion, is what separates art from chaos. I love smoothness in paintings and drawings and so I’ve always used long brush strokes and blended colors to create this structure. As I continue to do art, I try to create pieces that vary in color, tone, and shape to expand my expressive horizons. Although I always try to create my best work, the steps I take in this process frequently vary from piece to piece. I usually begin with an outline of what I would like it to eventually look like. This is where I really think about the form and structure that I want to use. This step can take a few minutes or a few days depending on my experience with the medium or the complexity of the subject itself. Once this is complete, I go straight into the final piece. I start with the general lines and shapes that have definite structures. In regard to color, I usually begin with one general shade that I want to use and then add other colors that complement it. After I place my basic colors, I begin to add details. This is another aspect that varies from piece to piece as some require me to smooth out a line while others require more heavy shading. The final step is revision: looking over the piece for any possible errors or improvements that could be made. If someone asked me why I enjoy painting, I probably would not know my answer. Personally, when I draw or paint something, I do it because it’s how I present myself and my emotions to the rest of the world. As has been said, a picture can speak a million words and that’s an idea that I like to embrace. My art is meant to reflect who I am but it’s also supposed to mean something to other people. Each piece has its own message and I want people to be able to find that message whether it’s the one that I intended or one that they derived on their own. My art is my own because of the little things: the depth of my shading, the way I hold a pencil when I sketch, the width of my lines. In the end, though, art is universal and it can be interpreted differently by all different audiences.