R Schroeder on sun 14 may 00
A few days ago I sent a post to the list whining about having to do an =
artist statement for a gallery and offering to buy someone else's =
statement they no longer have any use for. Well, I of course am always =
the wiseass but thanks to the moderator transition my post may get lost =
in the shuffle and you won't have to wade through my whine. If it does =
get on my apologies if I offended anyone.
As I sat in Quaker meeting this morning I decided to ponder the topic =
some more. I realized I really have been influenced by what I have =
chosen to surround myself with. You'd think the Arizona desert would be =
a biggie on my list since I live in it but it never even surfaced. =
Instead I'm influenced by the things I've collected from 45 years of =
travel around the world and living in India. (is it too sacrilegious to =
admit capturing the essence of nature in my art interests me not one =
wit?)
I would love it if some of you dears on clay art would share with us =
your influences. To start us off I'll share with you my list. Who =
knows, maybe the exercise of just listing these things will help some of =
us struggling with artist statements actually come up with one devoid of =
pomposity and artspeak. I know my list is long but there's always the =
delete key.
Hindu art
Tibetan Mandalas
Heironymus Bosch
William Morris
Oriental rugs
Lana Wilson
Jeff Schmucki
Egyptian motifs
Dr Suess
Nancy Crow (the Lana Wilson of the quilt art world)
cloisonn=E9
brass rubbings
Indian miniature court paintings
old Esther Williams's movies (synchronized swimming patterns)
fractals
electron microscopy
Moorish architecture
Fantasia
Puzzles
Celtic designs
Elephants
Phew, you made it through to the end.
Becky Schroeder
Marcia Selsor on mon 15 may 00
Dear Becky,
You forgot the June Taylor Dancers, or maybe you're too young to
remember them. They did the syncronized dancing patterns without water
on the Jackie Gleason Show. I liked your influences list. I think mine
could include many of yours. I have traveled too. There are many
wondrous things out there in foreign places that definitely have an
impact. I think artists' statements are best if directly from the heart.
Forget the artspeak. My list would also include Romanesque architecture
especially the wild sculpture in it, birds, the Mountains near my house
where there are vision quest sites and the wild horses, and the fire.. I
love the fire in raku, dung firing, reduction firing, wood firing.
Best wishes,
Marcia
--
Marcia Selsor
selsor@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/spain99.html
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/selsor/welcome.html
WHew536674@CS.COM on mon 15 may 00
"Pomposity and artspeak"...two good descriptions of too many artist
statements, and articles written by artists. But, it is not an easy thing to
do. For me it has been hard because basically I am a private person and
don't particularly like to bare my thoughts and soul to the world. Perhaps
afraid of criticism, or being accused of being pompous. So I usually resort
to technique and how the work was done. The influences are an accumulation
of a life time, some obvious and big, some subtle and small, but equally
strong. I think an artist statement should be as short and concise as
possible, 2 or 3 paragraphs. The public doesn't want to read a lot, just
enough to give them some knowledge and insight to help them understand a bit
better and being able to walk away feeling that they gained some knowledge or
insight of the artist that made the experience a bit more personal. Getting
started on one of these things is the hardest part, staring at that blank
computer screen, but once you get going the ideas come. I think we all have
a long list of influences. To add one to your question, for me it was
sitting up in the Rocky Mountains, almost to the top of Pikes Peak, looking
west to the Continental Divide as the sun had just gone below the mountain
range. It left a gold line across the top of the mountains and the clouds a
blaze of color. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. That gold line
still finds it's way into my work, 30 years later.
Joyce A.
Mission, TX
Ha, guess I did bare a bit of my soul after all. That wasn't so hard.
Randall Moody on thu 18 may 00
I completely agree that an artist statement should be only a few paragraphs
long. I learned this recently at a school-wide competition here at Southern
Illinois University. I made handbuilt teapots for the show. One of them was
a full sized guitar. Many of the people (and not a few of the judging
faculty) said that they had no idea it was a teapot, even though it plainly
said that all of my work was based on teapots in my artist statement.
My point is that it is not just the public that doesn't want to read a lot
but we in the art world have the same foibles!
>. I think an artist statement should be as short and concise as
> possible, 2 or 3 paragraphs. The public doesn't want to read a lot, just
> enough to give them some knowledge and insight to help them understand a
bit
> better and being able to walk away feeling that they gained some knowledge
or
> insight of the artist that made the experience a bit more personal.
Getting
> started on one of these things is the hardest part, staring at that blank
> computer screen, but once you get going the ideas come>
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