Katie Vonderheide

Yoko Ono said about this piece, “I just wanted to have a box that people can look into, and when they're sad and angry and all that, to see how it looks smiling.”

My friend, Chris, gave me this gift many years ago and when I held it and read “Box Of Smile” I smiled and upon opening it saw my own smile reflected inside. It was pretty magical to have this feedback loop of joy present in this work and reflected back at me. Yoko Ono was the first artist to inspire me to see art in everything and to shape my life in an artful way. This piece continues to make me smile every time I see it. I love it.

This book was an unexpected thrift store find. It was very cheap and from what I can see is easy to find online. It is so absurd! This is a collection of images where food is turned into other things like animals, faces, and letters. I love the idea of art intersecting with food and elaborate preparation with the conclusion of eating it. It’s much more fun to eat a carrot that looks like a flower, right?

Speaking of food, one of my favorites in LA, Kitchen Mouse, opened up in Mt Washington recently. There are lots of hand painted details all over that were painted by myself, often with help from my friend James. Erica, the owner, designs everything but she is always open to collaboration and ideas. We always lean into cuteness. My favorites there are (obviously) the waffles and also their croissants but I really love everything there. So hard to choose a favorite!

“ASSEMBLING is a collaborative annual intended to provide a communications channel for alternative, "otherwise unpublishable" printed art by imaginative minds who genuinely believe in their work.

By "otherwise unpublishable," we mean not things that are physically unprintable but works so unconventional that they could not possibly pass through current publishing channels.”

I love the artwork submitted in these books but also the idea behind it. Even though the list is long and varied, all the work seems cohesive when brought together in these volumes. What binds the work together is this egalitarianism and fuck the system attitude.

I visited Japan recently and my mouth dropped open when I saw these. These scissors are quite possibly the most fun office supply in my office (or to exist ever?). It’s so satisfying to cut paper into tiny squares essentially turning trash into confetti.