Your WHY as an artist

Another common idea I come across among new artists is that they want the focus to be on the artwork and not their own inner exploration. They are quick to reject suggestions of looking inward or talking about why they make art and what their art is about.

The issue becomes a separation of the self from the art. As if making art was purely a production exercise, these artists then try to wrap ideas around the artwork, and it is rarely convincing.

In presenting your art to the world, both you as the artist and your story are integral to gaining any traction if you want to make being an artist a career.

The next step is to ask what informs the ideas in your work. Again, I have worked with artists who don't want to look at why they picked a topic and wish the subject itself to be stand-alone.

The more you own it and reflect on why something interests you, the easier it will be able to connect the dots and create a narrative in your purpose as an artist. Moreover, knowing your ‘what’ and ‘why’ will make it easier to talk about your work when you need to later on.

Of course, not all of this needs to be in your statement, but for any artist who wishes to show their work, this will make it much easier to talk about your work and ground you in confidence. Begin with the basics, and the rest can be an ongoing task that will get easier the more you open up about your story.

If you have a hard time talking about yourself and your ideas, try journaling about why you were drawn to or pulled towards a particular subject, topic, or text that informed your work. Often the answer is linked to an emotion or a feeling. People often identify with the pain, passion, and plight of others, and these things also create ideas that you want to express in your own visual language.

When doing this exercise, I also recommend noting whether any part of it connects to you in terms of your outlook or experience. This is more about self-awareness rather than putting a statement together.

Communicating your work with ease and confidence and becoming clear on your purpose is covered in the upcoming online course for artists to start and grow a profitable art business. Join the waitlist here to be first to hear when enrolment opens.

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