Writing Your Artist Statement: A Practical Guide (Part 1)

Your Challenge:  

Think of writing your artist statement in the same spirit as creating another piece of art – one made with words instead of your familiar medium.  

It’s a creative head space we’re looking for here. And, I realize this can be challenging if words feel like a foreign medium for you, or if your ability to write convincingly freezes up when you have to write about yourself. 

If that’s where you’re at, right now, and if you haven’t read the last post—The Artist Statement: It’s Simpler Than You Think—I suggest you start there before tackling this one.  

In this guide, my intention is  to offer you a way forward so your artist statement carries the same spirit and message as your work. 

Just as you wouldn’t expect your first sketch to be the final piece hanging on a wall, please give yourself permission to write your artist statement with the same sense of exploration and discovery that you bring into your studio. 

Give yourself permission to make mistakes, start over, scratch things out, delete to your heart’s content, and revise, revise, revise! 

This Guide will give you’re a) the definition of an artist statement (so you know where you’re going), b) some techniques to capture your most compelling, effective words, c) how to collaborate (and quiet) your Inner Critic, and d) some key mindsets that will help you write your artist statement with grace and ease.  

What Exactly Is An Artist Statement? 

The most direct definition is this: An artist statement builds a bridge of words between you and your audience that tells them, in three paragraphs (or up to a single page) how you do what you do and why you do it. 

In this artist statement definition, I’m guessing the easiest for you will most likely be the first two parts: How you do What you do. The third part, Why you do what you do, is arguably the most challenging because so many artists are not used to paying attention to how they are (all the time!!!) thinking about their work. 

Feeling as if you don’t have words for why you do what you, comes from the nature of thinking where most every-day thoughts are fleeting and easily forgotten. 

The trick here is to start capturing your thoughts so they aren’t flying below your conscious radar all the time. 

And, after working with hundreds of artists, I can assure you that the process I’m giving you here will recover unconscious language you already have within you, inspire new (or more) language to use, and rewire your brain so you can apply this process as your artwork evolves. 

Capturing The  Artist Statement Words You Don’t Think You Have 

So many artists I talk to, when I ask them why they do the work they do, tell me: I don’t know. I just do it. 

And I believe them, sort of. 

 I know they are convinced, in that moment, that they truly don’t know. I also know that some part of them does know, but that this part is hiding out in a musty, dusty, cobwebby inner cellar. 

In my book on how to write artist statements, I offer several tricks to brush away the cobwebs and start a conversation with this knowing-but-not-know part of yourself.  

Because, the truth is, you really, really, really do know. And finding out what you know, and then applying it to your artist statement, is easier than you might think. 

For starters, everyone talks to themselves, in their heads all the time. Humans do this because language, since birth, has been hardwired into our brains as our main form of thinking and communicating throughout life. 

Even when you are deeply immersed in creative flow, even when you feel that you are one with the process of creating, there is mind chatter going on. And it’s going on in word-language as well as images or sensations.  

However, our mind chatter can be drowned out by more dominant sensations: color, light, physical flow, perhaps music playing, and so on. 

And most of the time, we get used to dismissing our own thoughts as being of little consequence. We don’t pay attention to mind chatter, especially if there is anything else more engaging.  

The following system is so simple that you may dismiss it out of hand. I encourage you to intentionally give it a whirl for the entire time I lay out, because this technique has proven valuable over and over again. 

Getting Your Inner Voice out of The Mind-Box and onto Paper, So Writing The Artist Statement Isn’t So Hard 

Because physical writing with your hand activates a different part of your brain than typing or talking or keyboarding—and because this process will be the new kid on the block—I strongly suggest you follow the directions… unless, your CreativeSelf (and not your fears or ego) nudges you in another direction.

1. Get a simple, 3-ring, spiral notebook, one you can take anywhere easily. 

2. Get a hand writing implement that feels good when you write with it, one that rests comfortably in your hand and flows smoothly across the surface. This is important especially if writing is difficult for you. You want to create as much pleasure as possible from this experience. 

3. Start taking this notebook + writing implement  with you EVERYWHERE! 

♦ Into the studio, or wherever you do your art 

♦ In the car 

♦ Into the kitchen 

♦ On the coffee table  

♦ On your bedside table  

♦ Into the café 

4. On the first page write: I am paying attention to ALL the thoughts I’m having about my work—small, medium, and large; pretty, ugly, boring, exciting… it ALL goes here. 

The reason you write ALL of this down is, when you are changing a habit, you need to give your brain notice so it understands what to do: Pay Attention / Write It Down / All Of It! 

Also, writing it down means you can forget about it. You don’t have to remember because you’ve captured it in a place you can always access. This frees your brain to just do the assignment.

5. Now, about the writing—and this is critical—you can put down single words, single phrases, you can misspell, you can cross out or start over. 

There is nothing you can do wrong. All you want is raw material. You want to start noticing when you are thinking about your work, capturing the exact words in the exact moment they are happening. 

6. TIME: because this is new, your brain needs to literally build new neural pathways so noticing what you are thinking becomes easy peasy. 

Do this exercise for two to three weeks. Jot down every thought that comes to you about your work. Fleeting specks count as much as grand canyons. Give yourself permission to gather without judgment. 

By the end, you should have a decent sense of why you do the work you do and the words that work best. 

And if you’re persistent with this exercise, you’ll probably discover even more words for how you do what you do. 

Selecting and sorting comes later, when you have enough in your basket. Our subconscious pays attention to what we give attention to. 

Dealing With Your Inner Critic Before Tackling Any Artist Statement  

Before you begin gathering your raw material for writing your artist statement, there’s an elephant in the room that needs to be acknowledged: you’re doubting, critical self. 

For some of you this critical self is minor and you know how to turn away easily. 

For others, our critical selves take over even when we don’t want them to. Most of the time, we have an historical person lingering in our inner landscape who used to put us down. It might be our eight-grade English teacher, a heavy-handed father, a critical mother, a cranky neighbor, or a perfect older sibling. 

I understand that your first reaction is to want to “get rid of” all those nasty messages. Make the internal critic go away. And if this is the route you want, there is plenty of guidance online for how to do this. 

But, most of these “get rid of” techniques don’t work in the long term, and that once-banished internal critic reappears, often in a new form.   

Why, you might ask? 

Because any persona inhabiting our inner landscape is there for a purpose. In the case of the Internal Critic, their deepest desire is to protect you, keep you out of trouble and away from embarrassment.  

However, we often shy away from these inner warnings because being criticized can be so miserable and deflating. When that happens, we unconsciously push away our Inner Critic/Protector. This sets up a feedback loop where your Internal Critic decides they have to be even louder, harsher to get your attention. 

Once you break this cycle, and interact with your Internal Critic from their highest intention—to help you—only then can you give them guidance on how best to help you. 

The good news is that I have a pretty simple, very effective technique for keeping your inner critic out of your process… until you request that your critic return as its true self: your internal editor, guidance counselor, flashing yellow light. 

Rehabilitating Your Internal Critic:  A Guided Visualization for Writing Your Artist Statement 

You may listen to this guided visualization right here, or continue reading:

 

Remember, your internal critic, no matter how harsh, has good intentions: to keep you from embarrassing situations, or worse. This meditation is a way to set boundaries so your internal critic will be available and useful when you need them, but back away when you don’t. 

Close your eyes and see, in your mind’s eye, your worst critic, the one who steps in to give you a hard time. Let them take shape. Don’t be surprised if they represent someone in your past. Listen to them yammering away: “Oh, you’re never going to amount to anything. Your art’s no good. What do you think you’re doing? Who do you think you are?” 

Once they’re fully present in your mind, turn toward them and say… 

I understand that you are trying to help, trying to protect me from making mistakes that will embarrass me.  

But right now, I need you to find something else to do and leave me alone to work without you. 

You need to  climb a tree, go skip stones, read a book, or find a park you like; it’s your choice. 

When I’m ready, I promise you can come back and offer me your kind, helpful feedback. Until then, I need you to leave and find something else to do. 

Because your internal critic is actually trying to help you, they respond well to firm kindness. But they are also notoriously stubborn, so you may have to escort them out, or repeat your request more than once. 

If your internal critic persists, put your hand up in front of you in a “STOP” motion, and say something like, I really want to hear what you have to say, but not now. Now I need work from a different place. And I need you to find something else to do until I’m ready to bring you back. 

If your internal critic is especially tenacious, the best tactic is a) reassure them, b) repeat the same request, then c) move forward on your exercise as if they are complying. 

Some Strategic Mindsets for Writing Your Artist Statement  

ARTIST STATEMENT WRITING MINDSET #1 

Treat your artist statement with the same care that your treat your art, remembering that the artist statement does not speak for your art, but is an extensions of your art.  

ARTIST STATEMENT WRITING MINDSET #2 

Even if the medium of language feels foreign to you, remember this is not a reflection on your Original Language, the language that came before the rule makers and goal keepers of our culture started messing with how you said what. Your Original Language is as much a part of you as the art you create. And once you recover it, word-language will serve you for a long, long time to come.  

ARTIST STATEMENT WRITING MINDSET #3 

Give yourself permission to write anything and everything that comes to mind. The boring ideas, the vanilla words, the cliches, these all need to come into the sunlight before the true gold of your creative mind can come above ground. Because, once you air out all the surface level chatter, that’s when the words revealing the true spirit of your work come alive!! 

P.S. If you want the whole Writing The Artist Statement system, it’s right here!