On Format and Essence of An Artist Statement

"The next question is, how you go about revealing the true spirit of your work? Hands down, first-person prose is the most effective form - (…) - it is simple, direct, and the most personal voice you can use. Even though some artist statements written in the third-person, this is never a good idea. Usually, an artist does this fearing that the statement, and by implication the art, doesn’t have enough authority to be believed, respected or taken seriously. Because authorities write about others in the third person, the artist tries to make it sound as if an authority is doing the writing. But a third-person artist statement becomes easily confused with a critique, and (…) an artist statement is not a critique. It also drops an artist statement squarely into a li, since the artist purposefully sets the reader up to believe that someone else, besides the artist, is doing the writing. (…) The most important thing is what hums beneath the words of an artist statement, which is the relationship you have with your art. This relationship affects what you write, and frames your writing tone of voice. If you connect to the spirit inherent in your relationship to your art, the words you use in your artist statement will dance at your next opening. (…) It is a personal revelation, a reflection on you work, a distilled essence of what you do. It is designed to increase people’s engagement with your work by building a psychological bridge between you and your audience. An artist statement tells people what, how and why you do what you do. That is it." Ariane Goodwin "Writing the Artist Statement"