Artist statements are a fundamental component of an artist’s practice; however, undergraduate students are often not confident when communicating the technical and conceptual importance of their work. They can be overwhelmed and uncertain when attempting to translate the ideas in their head to paper. Professional practice courses and higher-level studio classes help build that confidence, but sometimes, new exercises are needed to help spark inspiration.
In my undergraduate art degree, one of my instructors used a ‘sticky note method’ to help us narrow down our main themes. At the beginning of the term, we would take 50 sticky notes and write down themes, symbols, and ideas that were important to our practice. Each week, we would then discard or combine five sticky notes in the hopes of narrowing down what we were truly exploring. At the end of the 10-week term, we had five solid ideas that could help guide us when drafting an artist statement. This helped me discover recurring themes and symbols that were important to the work I was creating at the time.
When building an infographic to help students create an artist statement, I wanted to include out-of-the-box methods to provide alternative brainstorming techniques, including the sticky note method. I came up with four ‘pathways’ that students can follow to draft an artist statement. This infographic is meant to be concise to reduce the confusion and uncertainty that often comes along with putting an artist’s thoughts down on paper.
