Feature image: James Kao. Photo Credit: Brennan Witt.
By April Behnke
James Kao’s paintings and drawings inhabit the space between perception and imagination. Shapes of trees, mountains, and water surface recede, emerging through soft layers of color and mark-making. Edges blur; forms appear and dissolve. His images seem to capture not the world as it is, but as it feels—filtered through memory, time, and reflection.
Although rooted in direct observation, Kao’s work resists classification as landscape painting. His scenes hover between the recognizable and the abstract, conjuring a world of suggestion rather than description. “I want my artwork to fill a space where language fails,” he says, “to articulate sensation over thought.” The result is work that feels meditative and searching, grounded in seeing but never static.
Kao’s fascination with the natural world began in childhood. Growing up near a bayou, he spent long hours exploring and observing the wildlife around him. Those early experiences of curiosity and solitude remain central to his practice. Today, he travels widely—through forests, mountains, and rivers—collecting impressions that resurface later in the studio.
“There is a never-ending world of interconnectivity,” he says. “In unbuilt lands, there is a sense of survival, history, and sorrow that is buried or shut away in our urban environments.” His paintings hold that tension: the pull between awe and unease, between permanence and loss. The work invites quiet attention, rewarding viewers with slow, unfolding revelations.
Beyond his studio, Kao has become a cornerstone of Chicago’s art community. In 2014, he co-founded 4th Ward Project Space with artists Mika Horibuchi and Valentina Zamfirescu in Hyde Park. What began as a way to stay connected after graduate school has grown into one of the city’s most respected artist-run spaces. “Because we do not need to generate income to maintain our program, 4th Ward provides artists an opportunity where a successful exhibition is marked by something other than the sale of artwork,” Kao explains. This model of independence has made the gallery a refuge for experimentation and exchange.
Kao’s connection to Chicago is deeply personal. “Chicago is home,” he says. “Anybody who comes out here brings real love and support. That comfort and familiarity is a hallmark of the Midwest.”
In addition to his artistic and curatorial work, Kao is a Professor of Art at Aurora University. Teaching, he insists, is inseparable from his practice. His experiences navigating the art world have also informed the structure of 4th Ward, from its focus on one-person exhibitions to its decision to operate outside commercial pressures.
At the heart of it all—whether painting, teaching, or collaborating—is a spirit of curiosity and generosity. “Doing what you want to do yields a sense of effortlessness,” Kao reflects. His work shares those qualities: gentle, steady, and open to discovery.
View James Kao’s work at jameskao.org and connect on Instagram at @bookish_dancer.
James Kao is published in Issue 40. Purchase a copy here.
April Behnke is a Chicago-based painter and writer whose artistic practice centers on the building and breaking of patterns. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 and her BFA from Cornell University in 2006. Behnke has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Rockford Art Museum and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Though born in Boston, Behnke has roots in the Midwest and a passion for exploring the region’s art scene.