Nanako Kono’s paintings, drawings, prints, comics and collages investigate miscommunication. Kono is inspired by the structure of comic strips, employing intrinsic elements of that format — panels, speech balloons, animated objects, recurring characters, text — in her humorous paintings. The process of learning English as a second language sparked an interest for Kono in translations and semiotics, leading to the realization that the signs, symbols, and words we choose often fail to convey intended meanings to others. Taking visual and material cues from the Chicago Imagist tradition, Kono’s work explores a playful new way of communication.
Kono’s focus on multi-lingual miscommunication lead her to consider other contributing factors of this dynamic such as power imbalances and non-literal language use. Kono uses flatness, transparency, double-sidedness, and thickness of acrylic sheets in her work to convey the multifaceted nature of emotions, perceptions, and the indirect exchange of feelings with others through imaginary borders. She is also interested in the agency of tools themselves, considering language not only as a medium used by humans but as a tool that can act independently. Once released, words are re-shaped by interpretation, context, and circulation, often moving beyond the control or intention of their author. Inspired by the Japanese concepts of “tatemae” (public façade) and “honne” (true feelings), as well as manga speech bubbles, Kono’s paintings explore the dichotomy and ambiguity between the external persona and the inner self, revealing the layers of complexity in human emotions and interactions.
Nanako Kono’s paintings and prints have been included in shows at LaiSun Keane in Boston, and in Chicago at Arts of Life, Patient Info, the Epiphany Center for the Arts, and will be included in “Ground Floor” at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago opening in August. Her solo show at Western Exhibitions in 2025 was reviewed in NewCity. Kono was born in 1999 in Tokyo and moved to Chicago from Las Vegas in 2016. She received her BFA with a minor in Art History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2022 and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2025. Kono lives and works in Chicagoland.