Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Cundiff.
Hi Katherine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story really starts right here at home, growing up in South Bend, I’ve always been drawn to the atmospheric, and the slightly surreal. For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked at the world through a lens of storytelling.
That passion evolved professionally when I established The Yigosflower back in 2012, officially branded in 2022. Initially, it started as an outlet for my fine art photography and physical set design, building elaborate, moody scenes from scratch rather than relying purely on digital manipulation. Over the years, that desire to capture and preserve memory expanded into tangible mediums, leading me to launch Mind Over Matter, LLC, and The Relic Collection, where I work with natural elements to create custom keepsake art and preservation pieces. I specialize in preserving breastmilk, blood, ashes, hair, and other materials into tangible keepsakes.
Today, my practice bridges fine art photography, immersive set design, and storytelling installations. Whether I’m building interactive environments for gallery spaces like the upcoming YArt event, exhibiting fine art pieces, or crafting deeply personal keepsakes, my goal is always the same: to create work that feels alive, mysterious, and deeply connected to human memory.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, definitely not a straight line! Running a creative business for over a decade means you learn a lot of hard lessons along the way.
Early on, one of the biggest struggles was finding that sustainable balance between commercial viability and true artistic integrity. When you work in niche spaces like dark surrealism, physical set construction, or specialized keepsake preservation, it requires a lot of patience. You aren’t just selling a product or an image; you’re asking people to trust you with deep personal memories, or inviting them into a slightly uncanny, moody aesthetic that isn’t for everyone.
There’s also the eternal challenge of time management, juggling the deep, uninterrupted focus needed to build intricate sets or props and hand-edit photographic pieces with the everyday administrative grind of running Mind Over Matter. But looking back, those bumps in the road were essential. They taught me how to trust my own voice, double down on quality, and stop trying to water down my work to fit a conventional mold.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At my core, I’m an artist and storyteller who brings together fine art photography, physical construction, and preservation art. Under Mind Over Matter. My work is split between two distinct yet deeply connected worlds: atmospheric, dark surrealist fine art photography, and custom keepsake preservation through heirloom quality like The Relic Collection.
I’m primarily known for crafting moody, magical, and slightly uncanny worlds by hand rather than relying purely on digital manipulation. In my preservation work, I’m known for a completely organic approach: incorporating natural inclusions like breastmilk, ashes, hair, and botanicals into custom pieces without using synthetic filler powders or chemical tints.
What sets my work apart is that obsession with the tangible and the authentic. Whether I’m crafting a mysterious installation or designing a deeply personal keepsake, I want the viewer or the owner to feel the physical weight, of the piece. I don’t take shortcuts.
What I’m most proud of is sustaining an independent creative business since 2014, Mind Over Matter, LLC that refuses to water itself down.
With The Yigosflower, seeing a concept that started purely as a strange image in my head, like ‘The Hollow of Unanswered Questions,’ turn into a physical, interactive space that people walk through, connect with, and find meaning in is the ultimate reward. My Tree Guides are finally out, mingling with the world. See you at YART 2026
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My path really started from being that classic creative loner kid. I spent my childhood putting on plays, taking photos, and roaming the woods, which completely set the bar for who I became. While I always struggled a bit with ‘being normal’ or fitting into conventional boxes, art never made me feel awkward. It was just an open door. In fact, my grade school art teacher even took one of my creative ideas to a conference and it became a hit, looking back, that was probably my first inkling that my weird ideas had value.
I’ve also always had a very driven, business-oriented side. Long before The Yigosflower or Mind Over Matter, when I was in high school, I bred chinchillas as a side hustle and ended up developing an award-winning show line. I’ve always had this intense ambition to dive headfirst into whatever sparks my curiosity and do it exceptionally well.
That combination of childhood play, a lifelong love for photography and music, and a stubborn business drive is essentially what built my career today. Whether I’m hand-building dark surrealist sets or running The Relic Collection, I’m still just that kid in the woods building little worlds, I’ve just figured out how to make a life out of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mindovermatter.mom
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theyigosflower/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheYigosflower
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/
- Other: https://TheYigosflower.com
