How Not to Write an Artist Statement

This post was originally on Please Obey v. 1. A lot of people seemed to find it useful, so it’s getting a second life here.

There are a lot of “How to Write an Artist Statement” articles out there, and your mileage on each artist statement should vary based on its application. So I wanted to share a few things I’ve picked up in years of writing, editing and reading statements.

When writing your artist statement, DO:

Adjust your statement to the needs of the situation. A Zapplication app only allows 100 characters (not words – letters), so hone your message to that size. A juried show at a gallery might want to hear a bit about how your work relates to the theme.
Use your statement to encourage the reader to take a second look at your work. It’s a fine line: provide an insight, but don’t overexplain or you’ll risk taking up too much space and making it look like your work can’t speak for itself.
Be specific. The most common error (heck, the most common trait of statements I’ve seen) is being too generic. Most of the statements I’ve read haven’t mentioned technique, the choice of subject matter or media.
Ensure that the reader can match your statement with your work. Were you to gather 20 works and the statements that go with them, cut them up and then try to match them together, you’d have a really hard time knowing which statement describes which body of work. This is where being specific can be helpful.

Now, be sure that you DON’T:

Use jargon. It’s acceptable and expected to speak in technical terms about your work. But don’t make statements with unnecessary big words when small ones will do.
Be cute. Funny or flippant statements don’t tell me anything about your work, and probably make me think that you don’t take the application very seriously or that you can’t use your words. You can get creative, but take the statement seriously as a tool.
Use filler words. None of these should be in your statement: “Unique”, “original”, “handmade/hand-built/hand-dyed”, “colorful”, “fun”, “whimsical”. Do not under any circumstances say that you “celebrate life”. Of course your work is unique, colorful, fun. Of course it’s handmade– I’m already assuming that you made it.
Write a term paper. Tell me about you and your work, not how your work fits into the grand scheme of life, art or philosophy.
Talk yourself up. Please don’t tell me that your work is skillful, cunning, smart or nationally-known. Be objective and informational. Pretend you are writing a newspaper article about your work.
Talk yourself down, either.
Read it just once. Write it, set it aside, come back to it and make changes. Then read it out loud to a friend. Ask them if they understood it. An artist statement should make as much sense to the non-artist as it does to artists.
Overthink it. This is really hard, but try it, anyway.

If you’re an artist, you probably have a half-written artist statement saved somewhere that you keep meaning to edit. I do. Take these tips, and see if they help you get it to a more finished state. Good luck!