Meet Mindy Kober | Artist & Set Dresser

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

Hi Mindy, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have been drawing and painting since childhood. My first exposure to being around art and an artist’s studio was visiting my aunt’s painting studio when I was young. I distinctly remember the smell of the oil paints and linseed oil in her studio when I was allowed to go in, and saw the jars of paint brushes, tubes of paint, and different types of drawing utensils with awe of the creative space she made. When I was a teenager she would invite me to her art exhibitions in the Houston area, where I grew up. I was intrigued by the creative activity I was exposed to and developed a taste for different painting styles. I recall going to shows at the Lawndale Art Center, Diverseworks, the Menil, and the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston and was drawn to the work, and wondered why the artists made what they did. I always felt lucky to have my aunt as an early influence in experiencing contemporary art. As I got older, painting as a young adult was not so much a choice as it was a way to connect with others and to comprehend the world around me. I’ve always felt that making art was a way to sort out the human experience in context of recognizing our place in the world. It communicates the interconnectedness we experience as people with ourselves, our surroundings, nature, and society. I majored in painting in college, and there I learned how to establish art making as a practice. As a young adult I had to balance studio time with working a job that actually produced money to live and survive. I got into the service industry and worked as a server while pursuing my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and continued and grew my practice as an adult after college. I have exhibited across the United States and moved to Los Angeles to continue exposing myself to different art markets. In the past couple of years, I have expanded my art practice and art history knowledge to film production as a set dresser and prop master. I have taken my experience in art making and utilized it to produce wide-ranging cinema projects and have enjoyed working in group settings for the common goal of filmmaking through the art department.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I consider myself a contemporary pop artist, and my preferred medium as a painter is gouache on paper. Gouache paint is traditionally used by animators and illustrators, which I feel gives my paintings a story book or comic quality. Thematically my work examines the collective trauma of Generation X in dealing with family dynamics, social constructs, mental health stigma, economic stress, emotional neglect, and the visual nostalgia used to pacify these unmet healing needs as adults.
I’m excited to be working on my new body of work that anachronistically redesigns classic Pyrex and Corning dishware with antecedent floral patterns reminiscent of Bohemian folk art. I’m painting floral arrangements with familiar depictions that ask the viewer if the origins of the botanic imagery come from ancient pagan iconography or just its diluted modern successor of Pyrex dishes. This theme questions what meaning is lost as designs are copied in the colonization of domestic prints and patterns as they became nothing more than a decorative accent on a nicknack, casserole dish, or vase. I have made several paintings exploring this theme and am currently submitting to galleries to show them as a group. I have been making art as a painter now for twenty years and it has not always been easy. It involves dedication to the practice to generate new ideas for work while also evolving themes to mirror the changing culture of our society. Simultaneously while making new work, I started a new career, as I mentioned, as a set dresser in the film industry. Juggling these two passions has sometimes been arduous and demanding, but very fulfilling and rewarding. Film production requires working long grueling hours, but I enjoy the creative challenges set before me, like figuring out how to create headstones for a cemetery scene, or how to make a pot of water on a stove boil over on cue. The productions I work on are project based with end dates, and in between film productions I give myself plenty of time to work on my own paintings, so each artistic endeavor gets equal time. I have learned to enjoy the creative tasks set before me as a set dresser such as how to paint realistic looking tree bark, as was asked of me on a short film. Set dressing assignments set before me such as these challenge my brain in very unexpected and exciting ways that my personal paintings do not. I would like people to know that creativity takes many different forms and looks different when made by different people, but for me I enjoy the simple act of constructing something from a concept into existence and the execution of bringing an idea into being.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My itinerary would of course include the many notable art venues that Los Angeles has to offer! Monday would be a day at LACMA followed by a meal at Yuko Kitchen, then a trip to The Original Farmers Market to look around and buy treats at Littlejohn’s English Toffee House. Tuesday we would go downtown to The Broad, which is my favorite art museum in Los Angeles. This can be combined with MOCA Grand across the street, and a walk to check out the architecture of Disney Concert Hall next door. Behind MOCA is One California Plaza, which connects to Angels Flight Railway. This funicular takes you down the hill to Grand Central Market, which has many fun places to eat. My favorites are Korean fried chicken at Shiku and boba tea at Moon Rabbit. Cross Broadway Street from Grand Central Market to see inside the lobby of the Bradbury Building, which was made famous from the movie Blade Runner. Wednesday would be a trip to Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica to see many different galleries in one complex. This could be followed by Japantown Sawtelle for ramen at Tsujita LA Artisan Noodles. This little neighborhood on Sawtelle Boulevard has many fun shops to check out, but my favorite is Giant Robot, and I also love Sunright Tea. After lunch, we would head to the Hammer Museum in Westwood. Thursday would be a break from the art to go to Zuma Beach in Malibu. The Malibu area for me shows the real beauty that Southern California has to offer. I love the drive to get to Malibu as well through the Santa Monica Mountains. I like to go really early in the morning before the crowds get there, that way you have the whole beach to yourself for a while. After a day at the beach, I would take my friend to Neptune’s Net to eat. Friday we would go to the Little Tokyo area. First, we would check out the art at MOCA Geffen, then cross the street to the Little Tokyo Village to look at the stores and to eat ramen at Daikokuya. We would follow up the ramen with the red bean cakes at Mitsuru Cafe, boba tea at Tiger Sugar and a visit to my favorite store Popkiller. Friday we could get out of town to go hiking at Vasquez Rocks. First, we would stop at 85C Bakery in Valencia for coffee and pastries. After resting from our hike, we would head to Koreatown for dinner at IKI Ramen.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to all my Los Angeles friends who have become my family. I don’t have much family in terms of biological relatives that I can go to with help, advice or to connect with through love. I moved to Los Angeles twelve years ago on my own without family help, while only knowing one person in the city. Since then, I have made my own family through cultivating friendships into lasting connections and stable relationships. My friends are there when I need them, lend advice and help when needed, and accept me for the person I am. I met my husband Joel Moser when I first moved to Los Angeles, and he continues to be my biggest source of strength and support. Joel is a supervising director in the animation industry, and when I made the career transition from a painter to a set dresser in film, he showed me that it takes determination, focus, a strong work ethic, and the desire to master your skillset to be successful in the production side of the film industry. His strife for perfection as a director in the animation industry reflects in the extraordinary quality of his body of work and inspires me to do the same.
Another person who has inspired me in my new film production journey is John Philpotts, the owner of Off the Walls Studio Gallery prop house. Last year I started interning for John at OTWSG prop house, which showcases cleared art that can be rented to use as set dressing in films and television. What started as an internship with John became a mentorship in which he departed his wisdom as a seasoned set decorator to me as I was starting my career in film. John was previously the set decorator on projects such as It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia, Clueless, and A Night at the Roxbury, and now owns a prop house with one of the biggest selections of cleared art in Los Angeles. He talked with me at length about the expectations of becoming a set dresser, and the skills needed to become successful in that position. We developed a professional relationship where now I’m one of his gallery artists represented by OTWSG, and decorators can now rent my paintings as set dressing pieces to be used in film and television shows.

Instagram: @kobermindy