Artist Interviews 2025

Henry Kaye  
By Laura Siebold



Henry Kaye is a brand designer and illustrator whose illustrations of L.A. businesses that were lost in the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires in Los Angeles are giving a slice of home back to the community. Henry shares his sources of inspiration and his view of the strength and resilience of the Los Angeles (art) community with us.



As a brand designer and illustrator, you are very involved with LA’s entertainment industry. What kind of clients have you worked with during your career?


I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredible clients—celebrities and brands I’ve admired for years—helping them design assets for social media, merchandise, and branding. The best moments are when a random email pops up from a name that makes me think, “no way is that person reaching out to me.” I usually think it’s a mistake until it isn’t.



What are some of the recurring tasks you take on daily? Can you describe the design process you go through?


At my core, I’m an illustrator, but I also work in brand and identity design. My days are a mix of multiple creative disciplines, balancing client work with personal projects. I also make music under the name Ivy Mono, so there’s always something to work on. The challenge is figuring out where to start. I try to schedule specific nights for different creative pursuits, but it’s a funny cycle—whenever I’m drawing, I want to be making music, and when I’m making music, I want to be drawing. So, in a lot of ways my process is working on one thing, and suddenly being inspired to start a different thing, while also trying to practice patience and waiting to finish one before starting the next.



Where do you find inspiration for your work? Please share your top three sources of inspiration with us.


I’ve been building an archive of inspiration for years—about 10GB of categorized images, videos, references, and ideas. I can’t tell if it’s healthy or not, but I could honestly look at other artists’ work for the rest of my life. Some of the recent reference points I love are from cosmos.so, digging through Flickr where people have uploaded scans of old archival print work that is harder to come by, and honestly Instagram. I love how supportive artists can be of one another. You follow an artist and they share a friend’s work to their story, then suddenly that person is on your radar and it just goes and it goes and it goes.



A lot of your work can be found on merchandise. Have you ever exhibited your work in a gallery or art event? If yes, can you describe this experience? If you haven’t had the chance yet, please let us know where you’d like to show your work.


I have not officially had any work in a gallery yet, but I’d love to! The LA art scene is booming, and seeing my work in that context someday would be incredible.



How would you describe the art and design scene in Los Angeles? What is special about this community of creatives?


The LA art scene has evolved so much since I moved here a decade ago. I think I grew up in New Jersey always romanticizing the West Coast and dreaming about the life I would eventually have here. There’s something about that dream, moving west and starting fresh that has always been intriguing to me. And in my case at least, it really worked! I met my soon-to-be wife here, rescued a dog and continued to never take for granted that feeling when driving around at night here. David Lynch was right.



As a result of the recent wildfires in Los Angeles (Jan 2025), many artists and creatives have lost their homes, galleries and workspaces. How do you think the art and design scene will change after this recent disaster?


I hope it doesn’t change anything. But I do worry about the cost of living continuing to rise in this area. There’s a lot in general that LA has to figure out about the housing crisis and I hope they can follow through on the promise of more affordable housing soon. This place is my home, I love it so much and I love the people here so much. I just want to see it continue to thrive in all the ways we dream about it.



You have illustrated many beloved Los Angeles restaurants, many of which were recently lost in the fires. Among them are Cholada Thai Cuisine, Reel Inn, Rosenthal Wine Bar and Moonshadows. How has the reaction been to your illustrations? Do you have a personal story attached to those places?


The response has been overwhelming. Beyond the drawings themselves, what’s been most moving is the way the community has rallied together. Sometimes you hear lame people say LA lacks a strong sense of community because it’s so spread out, but that sense of community and support you felt throughout while dealing with these unfathomable fires – it’s been unbelievable. I just wanted to do anything I had the capability of doing to try to reach out and help as well.



What are the benefits of working with local vs. international clients? Do you foresee a loss of business in Los Angeles after the wildfires?


I really hope not. If anything, this moment has shown just how deeply connected people are to these places. They’re not just businesses; they’re part of people’s lives, tied to personal stories and memories. The support for rebuilding has been so strong, and I believe that will continue.



What is the most meaningful project you’ve worked on in your career?


Honestly, this series of drawings commemorate restaurants and establishments that were unfortunately lost in the LA fires. I originally started drawing LA restaurants as a love letter to my fiancée Tiffany, documenting our favorite spots. Expanding that into a project that helps raise money for the community has been deeply rewarding. The response has been beyond anything I expected.



What are your plans as a designer in Los Angeles? Do you have concrete plans for realizing your bucket list projects listed on your website yet?


In the words of Tommy Wiseau, “you have to do it.” I like creating my own projects and not just waiting for the call or email to come through, hoping it’s for something I want to work on. So, hopefully, I’ll keep just creating what I want to see out there and eventually more and more people will find it.