What collaboration means to me is quite simple – it means “the meeting of minds.” It is when there is an unfolding of ideas that react off of each other or a synergy - this is when a collaboration becomes exciting. A successful collaborative experience involves a certain level of unpredictability, as each shared idea informs the next.

There is no comparison to me. Working alone can be productive to a certain degree, but it is others’ work, ideas and energy that inspire me to want to make work and to grow as an artist. I get bored if I don’t learn or see something new. I am motivated by different ways of looking at things, by seeing the way that other minds work. And even if this new information is not in my medium, general philosophy, or "taste", there will often be something about it that sparks an idea. 

I have always been a working artist in New York but have made sure to travel regularly to art residencies on a domestic and international level, recently collaborating regularly in Milan, Italy. I think working in multiple locations can inform and enrich one’s work and affect the evolution of an artist. My time at Yaddo [an artists' community in Saratoga Springs, New York] this past summer was so valuable. Being able to experience the work of others – not just in visual art but in literature and music was incredibly valuable. 

I would say that artistic environments like collaborative projects and art residencies, environments in which you are surrounded by the energy of other working artists, have influenced the artist that I have become. I am someone that needs a certain amount of external energy and creativity to be inspired – whether that means literally creating a collaborative project, or simply sharing work and ideas with other artists and people in general.