✨ The Creative MOMent: March 2023
Writing Your Artist Statement, Looking For Yourself in the World, Creativity as a Healer
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✨ The Creative MOMent
The Creative MOMent is a section of the Emily Lupita ❤️🔥 Creativity Series where I share creativity prompts for journaling + my own creative journal.
Creativity Prompt: Writing Your Artist Statement
Writing an artist statement can be a helpful tool for self-reflection about your creativity. It can be a bit daunting. Here’s a few tips from Flying Arts about how to craft an artist statement:
An Artist Statement is a brief statement which tells us about the art.
It’s about your art, not about you.
It’s about the current direction of your work, not a history of how you got to this point
An explanation of your style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme
A statement of your intention through your work
A moving testament to your creativity and integrity
I’ve had several different artist statements over the years, changing things up as my art transformed. I also have different ones for my artwork and my creative writing.
Journaling
When I set out to write my artist statement, I actually started by cataloguing, formatting, and naming (almost all) of my artwork I’ve made so far. (That I have digital copies of.) It was a big project and such a long time to complete. Then I uploaded a selection of those paintings to my website to create an Artwork Portfolio page.
You may not want to delve into such a big project at the moment. But if you can take a fresh look at your extended portfolio, that’s really helpful. Then here are a few journaling prompts to consider:
Is there a theme in your portfolio?
Do you create from a personal heritage perspective? If so, how does that influence your work.
When you close your eyes and envision your creations, what do you see? A certain vantage point, a range of colors, yourself fulfilling some sort of creative dream?
And don’t feel like you have to conform too closely. As you will see below, my artist statement is not very conventional. I spent a great deal of time writing it and each time I read it, I like it. So that’s how I know it should stay as it is.
My Creativity Journal
My Artist Statement:
I paint from my experience in different cultures, including my own Mexican-American + Welsh heritage and rural Iowa roots. I’m a life-long watercolor painter and dedicated myself to my art project, “Portraits of Inner Reality” in 2004 while living in Japan. It was a defining moment in my life, that ceremonial moment of dedication, and it created a pathway for all my artwork yet to come.
The portraits continue to roll out in waves, sometimes in sets of different colors or themes, but so far always with the same vantage point of that inevitable internal existential cliff. It’s a great place to stand and look out with a paintbrush in hand. After all these years of going there, I still feel the need for wings.
Further Afield
How Do You Look For Yourself In The World?
Amy Sherald, one of my favorite artists and a creator I admire greatly said,
“I paint as a way of looking for myself in the world.”
I’m also looking to find myself and my family. When I can’t find us, I paint us into the scene. When I can’t find us, I write us into the scene. This is a powerful motivation for me to create. To tell my stories and the stories of my family.
The painting that I made to pair up with this quote is titled, “Lupita Looks For Herself in the World.” ⬆️
☀️ Is there a quote that speaks to you in terms of why you create?
Give Yourself Permission To Be Creative
I enjoyed watching this TED Talk, “Give yourself permission to be creative,” with Ethan Hawke. He talks about how the arts are a fundamental part of humanity, and especially important when we are suffering. One of my favorite quotes from his talk is:
“Creativity is vital. It’s the way we heal each other.”
I like to think of creativity in terms of healing. I know that I’ve been drawn to create when I was trying to process the biggest events in my life. And I’m regularly seeking out new music and artwork…and new films to watch at the end of a long day. I go back to my treasured poems by favorite writers in difficult times. My parents are both artistic and I grew up in a creative environment.
Creativity has always been my center. And definitely a form of continual healing.
☀️ Share your reflections
I’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections on this post.
Good journey,
❤️🔥Emily Lupita
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