So I haven’t written much of late because I’ve been out in my garage matting art. That is, when I’m not outside enjoying the summer. And now it’s serious. I’ve had to craft a “proposal”, whatever that is, in order to submit to galleries. They will in turn review the proposal and decide if they want to feature me. Some of it is merely a bullshit formality, some of it is more along the lines that (shhh_) these galleries take themselves too seriously. But I have to play along if I want to be included, I guess. I think it’s all a bunch of pretentious bullshit. My original artist statement is kind of an “eff you” to that idea:
My artist statement
Paint collage photography
order in chaos
But I don’t think that would fly. Plus, most folks who don’t know me would think I was being a pretentious asshole anyway, not understanding the inherent sarcasm of the haiku.
Anyway, here’s the proposal.
I possess a body of work consisting of over five hundred pieces spanning a variety of media including photography, both film and digital, painting in a variety of medium, collage, homemade paper, and a combination of all of these. All of the pieces have not been documented. Taken together, they explore a variety of themes including depression, the joy of living, relationships and political ideas.
An artist statement is, as is the body of work, a living, breathing thing. Writing about art, for me, even though I am a writer as well as an artist, is next to impossible, for art must be an experience, must make the viewer feel something, must touch the individual. Generally, my art exposes truth around me as I see it. I explore decay and rebirth, considering the subjects I choose to explore, as well as the mediums I use. The medium of collage exemplifies this, but even the photographs I take tend towards urban decay and the beauty inherent in that. A solid artist statement makes more sense for me after a show has been solidified, even if the show hasn’t yet been hung.
Creatively, I am constantly electrified by the opportunities for creation that surround me. I like to create at night, and tend towards short bursts of creativity lasting several days, and then collecting materials again in order to create anew.
My biggest weakness as an artist is my interest in so many different mediums that I am unable to develop one fully. Areas of interest include…
- The potential of the digital darkroom
- Sculpture – traditional and “found object’ sculpture
- Polaroid
- Medium format photography
- Homemade cameras
- Becoming better trained in the exploitation of color on the canvas, or paper as it may be
- The potential to exploit the Internet in creating new art via HTML and Flash technologies
- Sound collage
- Multi-media experiences
- Graphic Design
Taking that as an outline for my goals as an artist….
Short term goals:
- Learn how to frame my own work
- Learn how to market my work effectively
- Expose my work in local galleries
- Work more consistently
- Continue challenging myself to learn more about the areas of interest outlined above
Long term goals:
- Sell my work consistently
- Produce enough work consistently to maintain the demand for my work
- Donate work to charitable causes
- Move beyond themes that I currently explore and branch out into more socio-political topics
- Always remain fresh
Past Exhibitions
- •1998 – Angel Falls Coffee Company, Akron, OH
•2003 – Art Missoula, Missoula, MT
3 Comments
cool. good luck!
I know exactly how you feel. I look at some artists “resumes” and I feel like – I’ll never be able to study under my favorite artist somewhere else in the world….so what do I do? Can I make it as a self proclaimed artist? How do I pinpoint one particular style that’s me?
Oh – and all those technicalities……but if I owned a gallery, I’d need some sort of structure as well.
Anyway – feel free to share your thoughts on my blog too!
I’m so glad I came across this blog. I have to write a proposal for my foundation degree in art and I feel exactly the same way you do because I dabble in lots of mediums, find it very difficult to write about my own work because ‘it is what it is’ and people either like it or they don’t. I’ve also learned a little bit about art a lot about pretentious bullshit over the last three years! Haha.
Anyway, it gives me encouragement to know that someone who feels the same way I do did actually manage to come up with a proposal, so I shall stop typing at you now and get on with it! :D.
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[...] you show if you just walk in and ask, providing some examples of your work. Others require you to write a proposal for exhibition. I prefer face to face inquiries, but email and phone calls are a good first step. T&C: [...]