Painter Jessica Chao is unveiling a collection of new oil paintings in her solo exhibition “Fever Dreams” at Aurora Gallery and Boutique (1264 S. Shelby St.). In the same space—and in some instances, on the same walls—ceramicist Tiffany Phan is unveiling a series of sculptural objects in her solo exhibition “Ephemeral.” The side-by-side exhibitions will not only share physical space in the Shelby Park gallery; they will also share narrative themes and visual motifs.
Chao met Phan because each of their romantic partners is in the same band (rock ‘n’ soul four-piece Nowhere Fast). “We both love animals,” Chao says of Phan. “She has a very similar sense of humor to me. If we went to the same high school, we would probably be really good friends, because she was also a scene kid.”
Phan reflects the same sentiment as Chao in regards to their personal and professional connection. “Jessica is a really good friend of mine,” she said. “We instantly connected, and we share a lot of the same interests. I really admire her so much.”
Jessica Chao’s “Fever Dreams”
“This show at Aurora has been life-changing,” Chao said. “I know that sounds silly, but I think it gave me purpose again.” Chao’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Korea and are of mixed Korean and Chinese descent. Raised in Albuquerque, she attended the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art in 2012.
She relocated to Louisville in 2019, only four months before the COVID-19 pandemic. She had been struggling to find a community, even before the shutdown, and then had to wait as the entire city sheltered in place for much of 2020. “I had left Albuquerque, where I knew everybody and knew what their work was about. I was totally well integrated in the art community,” she said. “And then, as soon as I came here, I was excited to find that, but I had to wait until after the lockdown.”
Chao slowly began to find a creative community in Louisville, while working for a nonprofit organization. But in early 2024, she was let go from her role as an operations director for budgetary reasons. “All of a sudden, it was the first time I had given myself full reins to make art,” she said. “As soon as I left art school in Albuquerque, I took on a job at an art store, which I loved, but I ended up working there full-time for eight years,” Chao said. “I was always putting art as secondary. Now I feel like I have the opportunity to really pursue [artmaking] full time.”
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She submitted a design for Gallopalooza in 2024. Jennifer Chappell, councilwoman for district 15, sponsored Chao’s entry, titled “Common Dignity.” Chao continued her work focalizing animals with her entry into the group exhibition “I Made You A Mixtape” at Aurora, in which artists interpret songs through visual art. She chose “Lipstick” by Ariel Pink, the lyrics of which describe witnessing a murder. “I immediately thought about nighttime creatures, like an opossum,” Chao said. “I thought, what if the song is from the perspective of this opossum that was going about its business in the night, and just happens to be seeing this murder that takes place?”
A similar thought process informed the concept for “Fever Dreams,” a collection of oil paintings that narrativize animals. Chao tries to imagine the world from the perspective of animals. Her primary subject matter is the domestication of animals and the subsequent abuse and exploitation of animals. “I think animals create this unspoken language. They express a lot of emotions, and I wanted to capture that in the pieces that I’ll be showing.”
In the current social climate in the U.S.—in which BIPOC people, LGBTQ people, and immigrants are increasingly under threat—art is more vital than ever to Chao. “I think it’s important for artists to be constantly making work, documenting the things around them.’ Whether it’s culture or any kind of political activism, I think that’s the most important part… especially lately. I’m angry. I need to paint.”
Tiffany Phan’s “Ephemeral”
“As a child, I would obsessively try and find any information I could on extinct animals: the Tasmanian tiger, Steller’s sea cow, quagga, dodo, the haunting last photo of the Barbary lion, the sad story of the passenger pigeon,” Phan said. “I would look up numbers of endangered animals in captivity and the wild, and somehow brainstorm on how they could or couldn’t possibly bounce back. Of course, those are all things not directly in my control, but nevertheless, I would constantly think about it.”
The subject matter of Ephemeral is, unsurprisingly, ephemerality, the impermanence of all things, including entire species. “I felt robbed that I would never see them in person, never see new photos. They were just… Gone.” In her collection of ceramics pieces, Phan has created sculptural freeze-frames of animals whose future existence is unknown. “I wanted to show my technique and the passion I’ve put into these pieces,” she said. “I want to give them life.”
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Phan said that Chao’s work flows very well with hers and that the side-by-side curation of the two exhibitions will allow each artist’s work to complement the other. “It’s very cohesive,” she said. “Her pieces are very surreal and heartfelt, and give you pause to think. Her attention to detail and softness is something I really love.”
Surveying her own progress as a ceramicist, Phan said, “I am so fortunate to have learned so much about ceramics from Ngoc Phan, who I consider a Louisville icon.” Ngoc Phan emigrated to the U.S. from Huế, Vietnam, in 1975 and has worked as a moldmaker at Louisville Stoneware for more than 40 years. “Seeing the things he’s gone through as an immigrant and making his way in the art world—experience things and nuances most people wouldn’t quite understand—has inspired me to constantly strive to learn and be better at my work.”
Phan’s experience as an Asian-American woman in Kentucky intersects with her deep concern for the wellbeing of animal life. “Ephemeral is about taking these things that are being pushed out of this world into extinction, and the juxtaposition of art like this not being seen or felt because of closed doors due to things like anti-DEI rhetoric.”
In the same way that Chao and Phan share their solo exhibitions in the same gallery space, “Fever Dreams” and “Ephemeral” share the recurring theme of the way animals hold a mirror to the human experience. “I feel as humans we are to be good stewards of the earth,” Phan said. “This is what my show is about: showing love to all creatures great and small—an ode to the author and British veterinary surgeon James Herriot, who has helped shape my entire life.”
“Fever Dreams” and “Ephemeral” open at Aurora Gallery and Boutique (1264 S. Shelby St.) on Saturday, March 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
This article appears in Mar 14-27, 2025.