Mastering the Artist Statement

FAQS

What is an Artist Statement?

An artist statement is a brief written explanation by an artist about their work, describing their inspiration, themes, and creative process in simple language.

When do you need an Artist Statement?

An artist statement can be used for various purposes, but typically it’s most seen in gallery exhibitions, grant applications and in public presentations.

How long does an Artist Statement need to be?

An artist statement length can range from one paragraph to one page in length, depending on the context and purpose. For an exhibition it’s commonly a paragraph or two, but there’s room for more when it comes to grant applications or publications. It should be concise yet informative, providing enough detail to convey the artist's intention without overwhelming the reader.

Examples

Christine Sun Kim

Considering the fact that I was born deaf, my learning process is shaped by American Sign Language interpreters, subtitles on television, written conversations on paper, emails, and text messages. These communication modes have often conveyed, filtered, and limited information, which naturally leads to a loss of content and a delay in communication. Thus, my understanding of reality is filtered, and potentially distorted. This is part of the core of my practice as an artist and I am now taking ownership of sounds after years of speech therapy. Instead of seeking for one’s approval to make “correct” sounds, I perform, vocalize, and/or visually translate them based on my perception.

As a visual and performance artist, it is always my intention to approach sound by constantly pushing it to a different level of physicality, and despite my complex relationship with Deaf culture, I attempt to translate sound while unlearning society’s views and etiquettes around it. Using my conceptual judgment and compromised understanding, I challenge and question its visual absence and sometime tactile presence. Fortunately, with today’s advanced technology such as computer programs and high bass speakers, I have been given alternative access to sound. It does not necessarily mean that it’s a mere substitute or replacement of sound.

About the Artist

Christine Sun Kim is an American artist based in Berlin. Kim’s practice considers how sound operates in society, deconstructing the politics of sound and exploring how oral languages operate as social currency. Musical notation, written language, infographics, American Sign Language (ASL), the use of the body, and strategically deployed humor are all recurring elements in her practice. Working across drawing, performance, video and large scale murals, Kim explores her relationship to spoken languages, to her built and social environments, and to the world at large.

Read More: https://remaimoderncurrents.ca/get-to-know-artist-christine-sun-kim/

Image Source

Video Resources

Sam Durant

My artwork takes a critical view of social, political and cultural issues.  Often referencing American history, my work explores the varying relationships between popular culture and fine art. Having engaged subjects as diverse as the civil rights movement, southern rock music and modernist architecture, my work reproduces familiar visual and aural signs, arranging them into new conceptually layered installations. While I use a variety of materials and processes in each project my methodology is consistent. Although there may not always be material similarities between the different projects they are linked by recurring formal concerns and through the subject matter.   The subject matter of each body of work determines the materials and the forms of the work.  Each project often consists of multiple works, often in a range of different media, grouped around specific themes and meanings.  During research and production new areas of interest arise and lead to the next body of work.

Image Source

Lieu, Clara. "ARTIST STATEMENTS: Tips for Writing for Applications" YouTube, uploaded by Art Prof: Create &Critique, 21 September 2021, https://youtu.be/2aEHJswyGlQ?si=1ekN3qCRvwZqoGuG