Craft a Bio to Tell Your Story
A bio is an introduction to YOU the artist, the leader, the innovator. How did you become the person that you are? How did you become the person who made what we are about to experience?
Putting this into language is a powerful exercise. It gives people a window into who you are so they can connect. It also gives you the chance to say what matters to you.
Let me be clear: writing a great artist bio is not an easy task. Give yourself time and space to put this together. And be ready to let it evolve. Every bio I’ve written or guided evolved over time. Words are like wine—they get richer with the right tending and time.
How A Bio Works
Telling the story of your life in relationship to your work gives us context so we can engage with your work more effectively. This happens in three ways:
Establishes expertise: The surface details of a life and work.
Establishes craft: The explanation for why that work is interesting technically and your relationship to that technique.
Establishes meaning: the deeper exploration and intention of the work across time, not related to a specific art gallery or opening.
The Bio can be used as an about page on your website and as a download in a presskit. It is also an opportunity to let us see who you are. I love that about the Bio but I know that the pressure to “be yourself” in writing is often a cruel result of this kind of language. That’s not what I want for you as you craft your story.
What a Bio is For
Establish your credibility and experiences + introduce your story and perspectives.
What goes into a great bio?
I don’t believe in prescribing outlines. Which is why I’m giving you an outline but fully hope that you create your own version. A bio that works for you will not be the same as what works for me. That said, a bio does consistently contain certain pieces of information and context and it usually arrives in a similar order.
Ingredient #1: Your Ground Truth
(Read more about what that is here and how to find yours). This is your statement of what your work is and what you’re about. You probably won’t have it in the exact words of the Ground Truth. You’ll translate it into language that makes sense to who you expect will read the bio.
Ingredient #2: Your How Statement
Your approach is distinct. It defines your uniqueness. Tell us what that looks like! This is a distinguishing feature of your brand.
Ingredient #3: Background
Aka Qualifications. What have your experiences been that inform who you are and how you do your work? This isn’t the same as listing things but more about telling us where you’ve come from and how that impacts what you do. Some people treat the bio as if it is a regurgitation of your resume. It isn’t. This is the closest it will get. Choose a few of your experiences
Ingredient #4: Personality
Capture who you are outside of your work but something that still ties in.
How long is a Bio?
Since most bios are trying to accomplish similar objectives for similar audiences, they have similar forms.
Short version: two paragraphs
Most often seen in connection to an artist statement or some other promotional material.
Most often is a 1st person statement especially if it appears on your website.
Long version: three or four paragraphs
Most often seen on your website and definitely in Your press kit download from your website.
The goal here is to give more details that help someone else tell your story for you when you’re not in the room. Think a journalist writing a story or someone introducing you at a show. It might not appear in that full version but it gives the details that help someone tell the story that fits their objectives.
Needs to be in 3rd person “He/She/They/Pronoun” statements for other people. Making two of these is pretty simple--it’s the same bio! You just switch the pronouns! Just double check your final versions to make sure that all the grammar and spelling got switched.
What does a bio sound like?
There are as many voices to bios as there are people to write them. It depends on what your work is about and what makes sense for who you are. If our objective is to establish credibility and introduce you as a person, then context will matter. I’ll talk more about those contexts in the next section. But for now, there are two main tones you can take.
Conversational
Playful. Casual. This one has your voice infused in the sentences. If you want people to feel like they know you as a person, this is the way to go. If you need people to trust you as a person, consider writing this way.
Formal
Poised. Direct. Detailed. You’re more likely to see this on a website that acts like a mini art gallery itself as a form of portfolio. While these are still common for those in fine arts, most other practitioners are working with patrons and communities that don’t need this kind of structure. If you need someone to believe in your skills and qualifications, consider writing this way.
EXAMPLE
Formal, 3rd Person, Micro
Designed for grant application with tight word limit. Full bio at Sara Dittrich’s website.
Sara Dittrich is an interdisciplinary sculpture artist who builds introspective experiences that shift perspective from passive seeing to active looking, from passive hearing to active listening. Using musical thinking, Dittrich illuminates the dynamic and unconscious rhythms of the body and environments, employing diverse mediums that have included sculptural objects, musical performance, video, and interactive electronic technologies. From placing a cellist in a 9ft. tall chair or performing with bio sensors that match breath to tidal movement, the work is both absurd and meditative.
Dittrich’s studio practice is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work has been exhibited and performed in numerous venues including the Baltimore Museum of Art; Washington Project for the Arts; and Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts.
Translation is a Whole Process
Taking your life and story and putting it in a formal container that others will connect with.
Good news! Part 3 of “The Ground Truth Process: Name Your Work to Lead with Intention and Conviction” is all about this!
BUT EVEN BETTER! You can get the bio chapter over at the store for $2!