Writing your artist statement can feel like a big task, but it doesn’t have to be. In this guide, I’ll walk you through simple steps to help you figure out what to say and how to say it.
You’ll get writing prompts, editing advice, and ideas for how to actually use your artist statement once it’s done. Let’s make it easier—and way less intimidating.
Comprehensive Guide for Writing an Effective Artist Statement (221) Read
Are you confused about the difference between your artist biography and artist statement? I’m here to help!
See if these explanations give you a better picture of these two documents.
Your professional artist bio is kind of like your résumé in paragraph form (but less boring). It highlights your top accomplishments—usually with the most recent and most important at top.
Your bio gets to the point. It’s not a place for you to share everything you’ve ever done or get into your personal life.
Your bio is written in 3rd person unless it’s an autobiography, in which case you’d use the 1st person.
Formula for a 3-Paragraph Artist Bio
Your artist statement is about your art, not about you. More to the point, it’s about the current direction of your work, not a history of how you got to where you are now.
Your artist statement is written in the 1st person.
Artist Bio vs. Artist Statement vs. About Page Read
In I’d Rather Be in the Studio I lay out guidelines for your artist statement, where I say that my ultimate test for an effective artist statement is that it compels people to look at your art.
Think about it: What good is your statement if people only read it and then move on to the next label, the next statement, the next page, or the next artist?
You want more eyeballs on the art!
If you’re not using your statement as a way to engage viewers with the art, you’re missing an opportunity.
Most people do not have a visual education. They are not taught how to look at and appreciate art. Your statement can do this job without being too elementary or condescending.
Every time you teach people how to look at your art, you empower them. You give them confidence to spend more time with the work and to go to a deeper level.
These are excerpts from artist statements that can be found on their sites. See how they direct you back to the work.
How Your Artist Statement Can Engage More Eyeballs Read
Friends and I were reminiscing about Gilligan’s Island when I revealed too much about my TV-watching habits as a child.
Remember how the castaways on that series made everything from coconuts?
The Professor fashioned a radio and battery charger from coconuts. Why, oh why, couldn’t he make coconut glue and repair a boat to get them off the island???
Maryann was famous for her coconut cream pie.
Everyone drank out of coconut shells, which also became vessels for almost anything imaginable.
Coconuts sustained all of the survivors of the S.S. Minnow. Though they grew weary of coconut-this and coconut-that, they wouldn’t have survived without this fruit.
Your artist statement is like a coconut. Bear with me here.
The deliberate process of articulating your work will sustain you just as the coconuts sustained Gilligan and crew.
Your Artist Statement Is Like A Coconut Read
Want help finishing your newsletter, catalog, blog post, book, or even your artist statement? Listen up. My friend and writing coach, Cynthia Morris, shared a secret with me. Print It Out. Really? That’s it? “Print it out” is all you have for me? Yep, it’s that simple. Or at least it’s a good first step.
Finish Your Writing Project Using These Secrets Read
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28 Prompts to Shape Your Marketing Message
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