On collaborating

Michael Joyce and I have worked together for many years — since 2003 to be exact — and often refer to each other as “conspirators.”  A term certainly with its pejorative connotations — but what we mean is that while collaborator means to work or labor together, conspirator would imply certain parallel actions with its latin root conspire, to breath together.

My work as an artist seeks in each project or case to create an ideal conversation: between me and my collaborators, between a painting or sculpture and its viewer.  In the studio, Michael has been my conspirator for seven years — I make my work in painting and sculpture after his texts expressly created for that purpose.  I see my paintings, in fact, as traces of these conversations, often-times in dialogue with myself as I think through the ideas at hand.  And that cliche is intentional — as a painter, I am working through problems of language through my hands.

Outside the studio the model for my practice remains conversational or dialogical — how does an artist work in collaboration with a non-profit, a family, an architect and a community like 107th Street in Watts?  The exchange is ongoing, thanks to Watts House Project.  All hard questions are asked inside and outside of the confines of the project.

AG, May 2010