Meet Kate Mueller | Artist, welder, and coffin maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kate Mueller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate, how does your business help the community?
My current work delves into the idea of creating a space for what connects us all. The steel structures I create echo the geometric forms found in places of ritual. Like Stonehenge and Mnajdra, ancient temples built to align with the stars, my work explores the relationship between form and the space it occupies. The sense of awe these structures inspire allows me to transcend the ego, a feeling I want to evoke in my audience. Ultimately, my work celebrates the human tradition of looking up at the stars, seeking connection, and recognizing the interconnectedness of the human spirit.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Learning how to weld opened up what designs I could make come to life. Things could be taller, more elegant, and structurally sound. When I first moved to LA, I worked in a small custom furniture shop. I learned so much from my coworkers, Derek and Eric. The shop was on the road to going out of business even before I started working there. They had scaled back from a crew of about fourteen to six when I joined, and then it was just the 3 of us. You can really learn a lot about business from seeing a business go out of business first hand. We did everything we could to keep it afloat. I learned a lot about the fabrication industry, trends, and how tech and globalization can be the wild animals of change. This work experience allowed me to build up my skill set, ask questions, and figure things out alongside two of the most creative problem solvers that I know.

Working with people who are passionate about creating is a gift. I’ll use a method or mix a particular wood finish that one of the guys taught me, and it will be named after some person I have never met, but someone who taught someone in the annals of creation. Now that I run my own business as a crew of one, I am able to fully appreciate and have gratitude for my time there. When the company closed in 2019, I asked my boss if I could keep the welder. It is still the machine that I use today. In life, I can count on everything to change, but I can draw encouragement from seeking the throughlines that lead to something with magic.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Downtown LA is a kaleidoscope. After 10 years walking these streets, I can tell you they’re a living canvas in constant renaissance. Murals morph overnight, and shops and bars spring up one day, only to be replaced by something new the next. Yet, beneath this ever-shifting surface, there’s a raw energy that connects everyone. It’s an unspoken pact, this Los Angeles Egregore that fuels the relentless change and keeps the heart of the city beating.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mentor, Leslie Lanxinger , shared a story with me that I took a lot way from. 20 years ago she put a call for art out on craigslist so that she could make peace-focused video piece. Some dude sent her a nasty email calling her names and saying, You know that this isn’t going to accomplish anything”. Her response was, “ I know but if I stay home and do nothing, I will lose my mind”. Leslie said that for the next 10 years this craigslist hater ended up being a great ally. He would come support her shows and be willing to lend a helping hand. From this story, I am reminded of how much the anger we encounter in day to day interactions is personal pain. The people I admire most are the builders, those who pay close attention to the cracks in our systems and work tirelessly to reinforce them. They’re the socially conscious, the ones who see the suffering around them and bridge divides to create positive change. This past year, grappling with suffering and the act of bearing witness, a line from a live John Lennon song resonated deeply: “So Flower Power didn’t work. So what? We start again.” It’s a call to action that fuels my own journey – a constant search for ways to keep “starting again” in my life’s work.

Website: Www.katemueller.con

Instagram: Deathbykate

Image Credits
Guile branco