Statement On Purpose

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© 2001-2002 R.C. Barajas

“Father refused to back down on the sculpture, saying they could consider themselves lucky the Weary Soldier had two arms and two legs, not to mention a head, and that if they didn't watch out he'd go in for bare-naked realism all the way and the statue would be made of rotting body fragments, of which he had stepped on a good many in his day. As for the inscription, there was nothing willing about the sacrifice, as it had not been the intention of the dead to get themselves blown to Kingdom come. He himself favoured "Lest We Forget," which put the onus where it should be: on our own forgetfulness.”

- Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin

am faced with the uncomfortable prospect of having to write an Artist's Statement. It is for my show next month. It's not strictly required, but I felt it would be cowardly and unprofessional not to at least take a stab at it. This is where my first meanderings took me:

Artist's Statement:

I believe that humanity and inhumanity are the brackets surrounding the equation that is life.

God, no!...

Artist's Statement:

Do not underestimate the power of suggestion: you will agree that these works have depth, inspiration, and possess a beauty the likes of which has not been seen since the Italian Renaissance.

Oh right.

Artist's Statement:

Any statement would, I feel, inhibit the viewer by imposing the Artist's will upon them.

Kind of a cop-out...

Artist's Statement:

Is it obvious right about now that this is my first show?

Well, at least that's honest.

I sit and stare and wonder. Do artists really do this? Put into a sentence, or a paragraph, (or God forbid, onto page after page), why it is that they do what they do?

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