Nanako Kono, born in Tokyo in 1999, moved to Las Vegas in 2016 and earned a BFA in painting, drawing, and printmaking from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2022. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Nanako’s work explores miscommunication through comic-inspired paintings that combine drawing, print media, sewing, and collage. Her interest in linguistics and semiotics deepened while learning English as a second language, leading her to examine how language, signs, and symbols can fail to convey intended meaning. This exploration also touches on power dynamics and non-literal language use. Her paintings use speech balloons as physical objects, conveying the intention behind spoken words. Through flat color block compositions and textures, she emphasizes the surface-level features of language while showing how meaning and value evolve through conversation.