Making a Statement

I've been thinking about statements. More specifically artist statements.

I've written a sort of life, one line, mission statement. Full of the cheesiness I live for. But I've never written a artist/writer statement. I was wondering about this as I surfed the internet looking at different writing/theater/artist projects and tuned into my responses. Often, I didn't have a problem with the work, in fact I thoroughly enjoyed the work. What I did have a "problem" with may have been the message the work was sending consciously or unconsciously.

After sitting back and thinking some more, I realized that I have a sort of mission in my work whether I realize it or not. I have goals I want my work to achieve. For example, it is very important to me that my work encourages diversity (who knew?!). The older I get, the more upset I get when I see a play or read a book that is devoid of diversity. Granted, if the environment being depicted is, say, rural Iowa, then I understand. I am a little tired of seeing or reading work in cities that have no diversity. Not even hovering in the background. I know it happens. I know this because I've walked into many situations where I'm the only person of color, but I am tired of that being the norm. I'm tired of feeling like I have to go see and support the movie 'Red Tails' because it has a black cast. I have no urge to see it. I want choices. (Speaking of which, I do want to see Pariah. It is noteworthy how Red Tails has been pushed as the black movie to see and Pariah has not. Read more here. Also, some would say I should see Red Tails if I want more choices. Honestly, that may be true, but it still doesn't make me want to see the film). I want my choices to be diverse. Damn it, I just want more diversity.

So, yes, back to my original point, I realized that creating diversity within my work (and I mean all kinds of diversity, not just racial, though, obviously that is the one I feel most passionate about) is very important for me. Any artist statement would have to include that. It would also have to include my interest in trauma and strong female characters, as I discussed before. Probably my love of the arts and creating worlds and characters that reference other pieces of art. I'm not sure.

Looking through others' work today and taking a glance at the new pieces I'm working on, I realized that there are particular stories and worlds I want to see and create. Of course, I expect it to morph as time goes on, but I am wondering if writing an artist statement would be a good exercise for me. Perhaps it would be for you too. What if you wrote a mission statement for the type of work you want to do? You don't have to be an artist to have a particular idea/story you want to share, nurture, help, etc.

I can also see how a statement might make an artist feel boxed in. I'm someone who sees the world as my oyster and I really like oysters so it feels a bit overwhelming. Maybe a box would help.

Thoughts?