We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Mueller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kate , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I’ll reference one of my first literary loves, Franz Kafka. “God doesn’t want me to write, but I must”. I am not a writer, but I can identify with this sentiment. I feel driven to produce. Working with my hands, in flow state/ creative solving, I am able to disappear entirely. Sometimes when I am designing a piece the geometry will come together in such a way that feels beyond me. My creative purpose finds me. It’s something I must see through.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am interested in creating designs that put one in their body. I love reading about quantum entanglement. I am inspired by the way that everything is connected. My hope for my designs is that they would would invite people to feel connected to this meeting in space and time. A lot of the materials that I source have their own history. For my signature 3-stripe inlaid wood work, I am often sourcing materials that have their own history. We know that tree rings are a clear map of the age of a piece of wood. For the trained eye, one can tell old-grown pine over new. My imagination loves this confluence of things that must happened to create a singular expression. That’s the magic.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
“If you can reinvent yourself once, you can reinvent yourself 1000 times.” I think that I struggled early in my path with the anxiety of doing to wrong thing. I make coffins as well as furniture, as well as mixed media art. The most consistent note that I get is that it’s unclear what my brand is. I get it! Coffins have a huge symbol system attached to them. Some of the emotions they conjure up for people are not in alignment with the meditative practice I pair with my work. I have been working on letting go of that “wrong thing” anxiety. I feel compelled to make coffins. After a decade—it’s safe to say it isn’t a phase. I am curious to see where the coffins will take me, just as much as I am curious to see where my light and space installations may go. I stay true to my vision of what I want to see in existence.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I moved to Los Angeles in 2014. I immediately got a job at a high end custom furniture gallery. It was on the slow road to going out of business even for some time. When I came on board the LA branch was down to three employees (myself included). I learned so much from my coworkers: Derek and Eric. Both were wood and metal workers. Both are to this day the most incredible creative problem solvers that I have ever met. We would be given some wild custom projects. It was rarely a question of what could or could not be possible. The mentality was always, “let’s do this!” Working with them allowed me to take on projects more ambitious than my skill set. I knew I could ask for help if I ran into trouble. Now that I am working alone, I still take on ambitions designs. Through the “let’s do it!” Process; I can usually meet it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Katemueller.com
- Instagram: @deathbykate
Image Credits
Kate Mueller
