The last assignment in Part Four of the Advanced Practice course is writing a draft of the artist’s statement. Part Four started to direct us towards this writing from the first exercises, which were about our practice audit. I go back to the beginning of the course – Part One to take and bring some of my written thoughts about my practice, which I can use ( since nothing changed in this context) in my artist’s statement draft. I pulled out my writing ( below) to use it for my draft.

Question: What questions, propositions and ideas are contained within or presented by your work? How do you feel this influences or informs what you do?
I paint plants—flowers, trees, and greenery—because I see them as one of the most sensual manifestations of the Creator’s aesthetics: I am deeply attracted by their colours, shapes, structure, and versatility. Flowers are a pure, highly elevated positive Creator’s emotion, and I humbly try to pass a tiny fraction of it onto my canvas. 

After long and permanent reflection, researching other artists, and viewing their artworks, I understand that the creative impulse is universal for everyone engaged in the arts and is based on one common platform—a personal experience of Life as an existential phenomenon, which naturally is very different and individual for everyone.
I know now that my artistic impulse originates from my sense of being myself in the World. I can describe this sense as deeply spiritual. I celebrate my existence in the World around me in unity with a Creator who is a personality.

I will structure my artist statement in the following way: 1) Work, concepts and theme introduction/explanation; 2) materials and process description; 3) address to emotional and intellectual impact;

ARTIST STATEMENT (DRAFT).

My artistic impulse originates from my sense of being myself in the world of the Creator. I draw and paint because I am overwhelmed with life and explore and celebrate my existence in the world around me. Instead of the pain, I choose to focus on the beauty and sparkle of the Divine I am carrying as a soul like everyone else. I paint plants—flowers, trees, and greenery—because I see them as one of the most sensual manifestations of the Creator’s aesthetics: I am enchanted by their colours, shapes, structure, and versatility. Flowers are a pure, highly elevated positive Creator’s emotion, and I humbly try to pass a tiny fraction of it onto my canvas. I can describe this sense as deeply spiritual. My paintings are created with inks, aquarelle and pastels because I want to reduce my negative environmental impact, so I prefer to use natural, less toxic materials. I believe visual art is food for thought and can influence a viewer’s mindset. It is important to me to find a way in my paintings to elevate viewer’s sentiments, spirit and emotion.

Bibliography: “Artist Statement. How Do I Write Successfully”, School of Art of Institute of Chicago, online on https://www.saic.edu/sites/default/files/legacy/Artist_Statement.pdf [accessed on October 17 2024]; “The Complete Guide to Writing an Artist Statment”, ARTDEX, online https://www.artdex.com/about-us/ [accessed on October 17 2024];