The Artist Statement
Ive had alot of stressful hard things to get done lately that thats life. And really, that all easy. What make my life miserable is having to write about my work. Id rather get a double root canal without pain killers than write an artist statement. I think I hate writing artist statements because its not for me. Its for someone else. I understand they help a viewer understand artwork better or connect with the artist and that all makes sense to me but when you read an artist statement by me, its written to satisfy someones else's agenda. With that being said, I do again reiterate that I see the purpose of them and so I do write them. Heres a couple of old ones in fact followed by one I wrote before I wrote this post. (its still a work in progress)
"I explore the connections of patience and process. As a child, I loved Lego’s. Sometimes I would follow the directions and put them together according to someone else’s design, but that seemed boring and unimaginative. My own creations were never boring for me. I have come to feel the same about some of my work in clay. At one time, I wanted to make large pots and I was throwing them in sections on the wheel, but I would get over ambitious and ultimately end up with piles of clay. I needed to slow down and be patient. Of all the tools I use, I’ve learned that patience is the most essential to my creative process.
"I explore the connections of patience and process. As a child, I loved Lego’s. Sometimes I would follow the directions and put them together according to someone else’s design, but that seemed boring and unimaginative. My own creations were never boring for me. I have come to feel the same about some of my work in clay. At one time, I wanted to make large pots and I was throwing them in sections on the wheel, but I would get over ambitious and ultimately end up with piles of clay. I needed to slow down and be patient. Of all the tools I use, I’ve learned that patience is the most essential to my creative process.
Once an idea has taken shape, the
work is only just getting started. Anyone that has baked cookies can attest
that there is more to a perfect cookie than cookie dough. The majority of my
work is fired in either a wood, salt, or soda kiln. Working with these types of
kilns and firing processes is as much an art form as baking cookies or turning
ideas into pots. The aesthetic look pots get from wood, salt or soda firing
makes each piece special and cannot be duplicated. From precise conception to
building a pot brick by brick to atmospheric firing processes, my pieces are
far from ordinary. "
"Time is a tool. Every tick, tick, tick on the clock ratchets
the future closer to becoming past. Possible the one tool we don’t seem to have
enough of and yet we neglect time until it might be taken away. We don’t want
it put away but we leave it lying about wasting. Art cannot be without
responsible stewardship of most essential tool. Will we use it or let it lazily
tick, tick, tick away? "
"I’m giving reclaimed materials new life through art.
Somewhere along my journey in life, the idea was presented that the materials
saved from recycling was not worth the cost. It upset me. While I don’t have
trouble believing recycling cost more monetarily, I wonder should that mater?
In my work, I strive to use reclaimed materials when ever reasonably possible.
But then why? How much difference can one artist make? The truth is I cannot
change the world. I can only change me. When people look at my work they wont
see my time invested in salvaging scraps. For a generation that believes in
recycling but doesn’t, it wont matter my work is made from a majority of
reclaimed materials. I do it is for me. I make a difference for myself. One brick
wont change the world, but many can offer a new path for the world and for me."
Heres some stuff to think about when working on artist statements.
"Why do I create?"
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Ask yourself what you're doing.
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What does your art express?
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What makes your art unique?
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Ask yourself why you're doing it.
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What motivates you to create art?
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What emotions or ideas are you trying to convey?
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What does your art
mean to you?
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Ask yourself how you're doing it.
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What do you draw inspiration from?
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What tools and materials do you use?
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