guest post - genevieve williamson
An Unexpected Turn
I have a confession. I spent years thinking of myself as an artist without ever writing an artist's statement. My excuses were many and probably not uncommon. I've compiled a list and have used all of them at one time or another.
1. Why do I need a statement? My art should stand on its own.
2. I can't put art into words - after all, isn't that part of why I make art anyway?
3. I don't know how.
4. I'm an artist not a writer.
5. I don't have the time.
6. Artist's statements sound pretentious.
7. No one really cares about artist's statements.
8. I work intuitively; I never really think about why I do what I do.
9. What if I dig deep into my soul and find that there is nothing there and my work is shallow, pointless and a waste of time? (the scariest of all!)
And so, with all of these excuses at my disposal I successfully avoided an artist statement...until one day when I was presented with a creative opportunity that required one. It was time to do this. I figured a statement doesn't need to be my life story. It just needs to sum up in 2-3 paragraphs, the basics of what goes on internally that leads to external.
I started with free writing, jotting down anything that came to mind about my work and my process. No sentences, not even complete thoughts - I just wrote anything and everything that I thought of over the course of a couple days. "Strong contrast of shape, size, color; repetitive pattern; groupings; interesting connections..." I kept a piece of paper on my desk and covered both sides. I saw patterns develop, bit and pieces became sentences and several sentences turned into two short paragraphs. I did it! It was amazing how just putting it all out on paper made me see how that my work, while informed by my many interests and experiences, eventually comes down to relationships, visual and human.
So surprisingly writing a statement wasn't that hard, didn't stop my work, or slow me down or prove to be a waste of time, in fact its actually been quite energizing, like looking at something from a completely different perspective. And it turned out to be less about fulfilling an obligation for a gallery and much more about self discovery. And I think it will probably mark a turning point in my work.
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you can learn more about genevieve here:
blog
etsy
twitter
I have a confession. I spent years thinking of myself as an artist without ever writing an artist's statement. My excuses were many and probably not uncommon. I've compiled a list and have used all of them at one time or another.
1. Why do I need a statement? My art should stand on its own.
2. I can't put art into words - after all, isn't that part of why I make art anyway?
3. I don't know how.
4. I'm an artist not a writer.
5. I don't have the time.
6. Artist's statements sound pretentious.
7. No one really cares about artist's statements.
8. I work intuitively; I never really think about why I do what I do.
9. What if I dig deep into my soul and find that there is nothing there and my work is shallow, pointless and a waste of time? (the scariest of all!)
And so, with all of these excuses at my disposal I successfully avoided an artist statement...until one day when I was presented with a creative opportunity that required one. It was time to do this. I figured a statement doesn't need to be my life story. It just needs to sum up in 2-3 paragraphs, the basics of what goes on internally that leads to external.
So surprisingly writing a statement wasn't that hard, didn't stop my work, or slow me down or prove to be a waste of time, in fact its actually been quite energizing, like looking at something from a completely different perspective. And it turned out to be less about fulfilling an obligation for a gallery and much more about self discovery. And I think it will probably mark a turning point in my work.
........................................................................................................
you can learn more about genevieve here:
blog
etsy
Category Article artist's statement, genevieve williamson, guest, polymer clay, process, writing
