How To Talk About Your Art (Without Making It Weird)

You made something. Someone asks you what it's about. Your brain goes blank. You mumble something about "exploring the relationship between space and emotion" and immediately want to disappear.

We've all been there.

Talking about your own work is one of the hardest things about being an artist. It feels unnatural. It feels pretentious. It feels like whatever you say is going to be wrong.

But here's the thing. If you're exhibiting your work, people are going to ask you about it. Collectors, other artists, random people at the opening who are genuinely curious. You need to be able to say something. And it doesn't need to sound like it came from an art history textbook.

Forget the artist statement voice

You know the voice. The one that says things like "my practice interrogates the liminal boundaries of identity through a post-structural lens." Nobody talks like that in real life. Nobody should talk like that ever.

If you wouldn't say it to a friend over a drink, don't say it about your art.

The best way to talk about your work is the way you'd explain it to someone who has never been to a gallery before. Simple. Direct. Honest.

Start with why you made it

People don't want a technical breakdown of your process. They want to know why. What made you start this piece? What were you thinking about? What were you feeling? What problem were you trying to solve?

"I made this because I couldn't stop thinking about how my neighbourhood has changed over the last five years" is ten times more interesting than "this piece explores themes of urban transformation and temporal displacement."

Same idea. One sounds like a person. The other sounds like a wall label nobody reads.

Talk about what you see

Sometimes the simplest thing you can say is what's actually in the work. What's happening in the image. What the shapes are doing. What the colours remind you of. What the texture feels like.

People are often afraid to say the obvious thing because they think art needs to be complicated. It doesn't. If someone is looking at your painting and you say "I wanted the red to feel like it was pushing through the blue" that gives them a way in. They can see it. They can feel it.

You don't need to explain everything. You just need to open a door.

Be honest about what you don't know

Not every piece has a deep meaning planned from the start. Sometimes you just made something and it felt right. That's a completely valid answer.

"I'm still figuring out what this one means to me" is honest and people respect it. It's also a great way to start a conversation instead of ending one.

The worst thing you can do is make something up because you think you need to sound smart. People can tell. Especially collectors who have heard hundreds of artists talk about their work.

Practice on people who don't know anything about art

Before your first exhibition, talk about your work with someone who is not an artist. Your friend. Your family. The person sitting next to you on the bus. If they understand what you're saying and seem interested, you've nailed it.

If they look confused, you're overcomplicating it.

The goal is not to impress people with your vocabulary. The goal is to make someone care about what they're looking at.

At the opening night

Here's a trick for opening nights. Don't stand next to your work waiting for someone to approach you. Walk around. Look at other people's work. Have a drink. Relax.

When someone asks about your piece, keep it short. Two or three sentences. If they want more, they'll ask. The best conversations about art happen when both people are curious, not when one person is delivering a lecture.

And if someone doesn't like your work or doesn't get it, that's fine. Not everything is for everyone. Smile, say thanks for looking, and move on. That confidence is more impressive than any artist statement.

The only rule

Say what you mean. Mean what you say. If it sounds like you're trying too hard, you probably are.

Your work already speaks for itself. You just need to introduce it.

Want to put your work in front of people who actually want to hear about it? Our open call is live at streetersgallery.net

Streeters Gallery London. Paris. New York. The gallery that actually lets you in.