The Artist Statement
HUG
Recently I have been submitting my work more to open calls. I do this mainly through a great platform for artists called HUG.
The beauty of these open calls is that they can expand your thinking on the art you submit and delve deeper into your being as an artist. A great example is this open call HUG Visionaries where you are asked to share your Artist Statement.
Now our space is insanely fast paced. Within Social Media both the amount of characters and the attention span are limited at best. That also means your profile’s bio has to be relatively short. Nothing wrong with playing along but by all means don’t put the same boundaries on your being and inner process. Expanding upon your bio in a separate text can help you to break down a few walls.
Can you eloborate?
As with almost all my write-ups, I used good old pen & paper first to put my thoughts into words. Somehow it helps me tune in more than utilizing keyboard & screen.
This has led to sharing the following statement, which is indeed basically an elaboration on my bio:
My Bio reads: “Lens & Word based artist. Capturing a journey of embracing mystery, healing & aligning purpose. Imagining the unseen in between.”
I have a longtime passion for and practice Healing Arts. What some might call Complementary & Alternative Medicine. And with that I have a broader interest in spirituality. Growth never stops and it is (from) walking that journey that I am trying to capture. Body, Mind, Spirit. Various stages and the spaces in between. That can lead to (semi-)abstract images, much use of negative space and portraying the not so obvious subject. Weaving in occasional nostalgia.
When it comes to healing I firmly believe in our self-healing ability. We just need a little motivation, a tiny trigger: The concept of Less is more. That is what I am aiming to reach in art. Longer term. Japanese aesthetics are a big inspiration. But sources are plenty. From East-Asian Medical Classics to the Daodejing. From Zen to the poetry of Rumi. More directly linked to photography? Think of the essence of The Mindful Photographer. Travel via Minor White to John Daido Loori. Masao Yamamoto and more recent, Paul Cupido.
I create as there is divinity in that very act. Liberating. Aligning purpose, the freedom to do what we love. If I can ignite a fragment of healing or that freedom in others through my work, I will have reached my goal. Reaching my own potential is the journey.
Personal & non-static
Enter Artist Statement in your search-engine and you will find many guides, examples, do’s and don’ts. Depending on what you read you might find a couple not-done’s in my statement. You might find it not much more tangible than the lines in my bio.
But these are the things that I want to express. How it is perceived is for the bigger part out of my hands. Just like art. Next to that I am sure there will be tweaks in the future. Live and learn. Still, this is my artistic foundation.
Not so Final thoughts
Look at my TL, blogs and pages on this site and you will find proof that I am pretty much a go with the flow kinda guy, laissez faire as my motto. In my mind I know what I like and want to do. However writing this statement truly helps me to paint a clearer picture for at least myself. More framed & focused.
The path you walk does not have to exist. But to know where you want to go can surely help. Especially when you are like me; blessed with only the tiniest bit of very selective discipline.
* Want to join HUG? Here is your invite link. Find my HUG profile right here.