How To Write a Great Artist Statement

Raise your hand if you LOVE writing artists statements!

Exactly.

Rarely does someone enjoy the precess. Personally, I've written hundreds of artist statements, cover letters, references, reviews, and bios for other people, but when it comes to writing my own artist statement it tends to take me 2 or 3 days to even get started. 

Here are 5 things that can help when writing an artist statement.

1. DESCRIBE YOUR SPECIFIC PROCESS. Sometimes your process is all magical with prayer crystals and stars and quasars and whatnot. More often, though, your process is a bit mundane or repetitive. There is value in every type of creative process. In one artist statement I described how I painted while home schooling my son. That collaborative effort between me and my son (at the time he was a toddler) informed my work. While having a child limited my work in some ways, it also amplified a deficit in many fine arts spaces. My artist statement became centered around navigating that challenge.

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