Artist Statements- What Is It?

Artist Statements with Visual Example

Artist statements are an important part of an any artists work. What do you think an artist statement is? 

Below is an example of a series of work with an artist statement. Reading through the artist statement, what are some things that you notice? How does it relate to the series? What does it tell you? What does it not tell you?

Series Title: Where (I) Am (I) 

Statement
Through the process of collage, done both physically and digitally, I am addressing the
idea of place and what that means to myself. Combining imagery from my everyday life, with
completely different imagery from places I have traveled, the scenes created are surreal and
create questions of where I am versus where I want to be. Memory also plays a key role in the
work, specifically in choosing imagery. By disrupting scenes from my everyday life with images
from my direct experiences in other locations, each piece is personalized towards my own
memory and perception of the place, further juxtaposing where reality is and what I want to
experience. By collaging the pieces, the ideas formed in each builds off of one another. In this
way, I learn through the physical process of collage about larger ideas and ways of
demonstrating these ideas through the medium.

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The photographer Jane Yudelman also has various artist statements for a number of her works.
      

Statement: “Route 1”

Anyone who knows Maine also knows that one can spend many hours in a car. The Route 1 series initially emerged from this simple fact, but has since evolved into an ongoing body of work in which the act of moving from one place to another, be it by car or foot or other means, is crucial to the creation of the images.

Each image in this series is taken while in motion and is thus shaped by velocity, time, terrain, road surface and the camera’s shutter speed. While moving, I am forced in a split second to reduce passing scenery to its essential visual elements and as I press the shutter, I allow the complex motions of the vehicle or the body to accentuate the basic forms, colours and textures of nature.

How Do I Write an Artist Statement? 

The “How”:

The ‘How’ refers to how you created your works. Many viewers want to know how an artist creates their work- this is you chance to do so. Describe your works and how you went about to create your actual photographs. Did you stage them? Come upon the subject randomly? Did you go out in search of the subject? 

The “What”:

What do you take photos of? What is your imagery?  Describe the content/subject matter of your works.

And last, The “Why”:

Why do you make what you make? What does your life say about your work and your work say about your life? What symbols do you use and why? Explain the influences behind the meanings of your works.

You don’t have to have the same amount of each type of information, but it is a good idea to have part of your statement devoted to each of these categories. However, if one category seems far more relevant to your work than the others, feel free to emphasize it in your statement. 

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Assignment: A rough draft of your artist statement is due by next class on Friday, 6/1! Either hard copies or a digital copy will be accepted. If it is digital, email it to me at lwasserman@uascriminaljustice.org