Rather dauntingly, galleries will often ask for an Artist’s Statement and, if you want to slip effortlessly into your imposter syndrome state, this is the moment for it! Words like ‘self-taught’ which sound quite valid in a one-to-one conversation suddenly sound like ‘hopeless dreamer’ when written down for others to judge and form an opinion about, and when you haven’t been to college or won awards or been potting in China, the whole thing can look a bit thin, which just fuels the already raging self-doubt!
I used to agonise about what to put when I started out, but now I think that we are all like tapestries filled with experiences, ideas, successes and failures, but above all wisdom, and, most importantly, everything counts. Our inspiration can come from anywhere; it can come from other artists, life experiences, with the way our hands feel when we touch the clay, the potter friends we pot alongside with, the joy of opening the kiln when it has all worked out the way we’d hoped. But it still remains hard to try to make a statement about your own art in a way that doesn’t sound pretentious.
As a ceramicist, most of my Instagram feed is filled with my passions; art, collectors, potters, cooks and nature and there are several people I follow who write very beautifully and authentically about their art and inspiration and the things that make them tick – two of these, Edmund de Waal and Nigel Slater inspire me in every post. Edmund is one of these amazing story tellers who weaves his art and ceramics into his past as well as his present. He paints a beautiful picture of his pottery and his life and I love his writing. His words have made me think about what messages I want to give about my work and he has definitely inspired me to think more deeply about my own influences, what I like and who I am as a person, not just as a potter. Nigel is a cook, not a potter, but he adores ceramics and he paints such a wonderful picture of his kitchen and garden on Instagram that I’d like nothing more than to knock on his door, press a small gold bowl into his hands (to bribe him obviously) and sit at his table to hear more. I really hope he might have just taken a cake out of the oven as well…
I’d like to say that impostor syndrome fades with time but I’m not sure it does. What does happen though is that we get braver. And with that bravery comes a stronger sense of who we are and what we create and then we can be proud occasionally and enjoy sharing what we make with our hands.