KatherinesBrains

(she/her), or “KaTɐ​​ꓘ”

is a Los Angeles based

first generation

Mexican American

interdisciplinary artist

with a focus on print media. 

Embracing unconventional techniques and found materials, her artistic approach is deeply influenced by old toons, religious imagery, and punk/DIY (do-it-yourself) culture.

She holds a particular fascination for the ugly, confusing, strange, and mystifying aspects of existence and its uncertainty.

Through exploration of these unconventional subjects, she enjoys creating artwork that is humorous and oftentimes interactive, while referencing the absurdity of choice, the anxiety of outcome, and decision making that escorts the human experience.

She likes to use found objects, and regularly re-purpose materials, as accessibility is at the heart of her practice.

Katherine believes that art should be inclusive and sustainable.

As a current teaching artist, she is committed to making the creative practice as accessible as possible to everyone.

“ I spent the majority of my childhood moving from place to place, stretching from rural Nebraska to the diverse neighborhoods in the Southwest side of Chicago. I remember watching cartoons on PBS Kids. Without cable TV, I felt lucky when Boomerang would be on the TV’s at the laundromat. I loved Arthur, Pink Panther, Dexter’s Laboratory; I was always being scorned by my grandpa for not memorizing multiplication tables, but doodling all over my homework. Art was not something that was heavily encouraged in my world then; being a child of a first generation immigrant, there was great focus on working, being useful & productive, and helping around the house.

But I always made the time to nurture the creator in me.

I became the first in my family to attend university, earning a merit scholarship for The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in May of 2023. My work has been exhibited in local galleries in California, and the vibrant Chicago art scene, and has become a part of the permanent artist book collection that resides at the Pratt Institute in NYC. (🍎)

I continue to explore new avenues within my interdisciplinary practice, and currently serve as a teaching artist, hoping to inspire my community to create.”

- KaTɐ​​ꓘ