From Hunan Changsha to Oregon to Chicago
Twelve years ago, Cai left China after a childhood where he endured bullying due to homophobia, even from his teachers. He said that he had to leave in order to gain perspective on his early experiences being called a sissy, physically attacked by a teacher, and more.
He earned his undergraduate degree in Oregon, where he also met the man who would become his husband. After several years in Orgeon, the two moved to the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Cai had a vision for his future.
“I had a thought that I […] should find a piece of land to settle, to put my roots in one piece of land. But then I had a dream […] of monstera. I got the plants and the second day, the plant’s just dead. And I think the information in the dream is, I don’t have the land in my heart.
I’m still flying and floating, and I should accept that’s the case that it’s okay to not settle down. I don’t have to choose this place or that place to be my home. Because I forced myself to settle. Like I wanted to have a family, to find a partner, to get married, to get my identity. And I though that would bring me stable security. But it did not. It took me awhile to realize that. Because that seems like everybody HAS and I thought that’s what I needed to have too”
After eight years of marriage, Cai found himself attending graduate school at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and going through a divorce at the same time. All while living in a small studio apartment with his soon-to-be ex-husband. The South Pond at the Lincoln Park Zoo along the Nature Boardwalk became a refuge.
“I walked in this park SO many times. Many many times. I moved here in the summer. And during summer, there was so many plants that were blossom. So many flowers that were blossom. Lots of birds and so many animal. And so many sunshine. And it was, it’s close to the lake. So being here really, I know observing those fish, turtles, and the goose, ducks really helped me to like— grounded.”
Back in the studio, Cai focused on his art, which is rooted in Chinese folklore, and thus tied to the land. But the stability he had thought to find through marriage and settling on the land was instead found through other people. Naturally, he found meaningful connections to the Chinese American community.
“There is a saying in China. It’s called, 一方水土养一方人, One piece of land feed one group of people. And we are shaped by the land and by the food it grows on the land.”
Though this land we inhabit here in Chicago helped ground Cai through difficult times, he knows it’s time to move on, that because this land is not in his heart, he should not settle here. So forging a reciprocal relationship with the land is difficult.
Despite that, during our interview, he showed respect for the land, and especially for the sample he collected, carefully selecting soil with only a small amount of moss, then taking the time to thoughtfully observe it and acknowledge that processing it to make chromatograms would result in the death of the soil.
Exhibition
From April 21 – early June, 2026, Cai’s story and original chromatograms are on display at the Little Village Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
Further Reading
Immerse yourself in Cai’s work.
Chicago is teeming with life
This Land is Alive maps overlooked places, people, and plants in Chicago. Click below to meet your other neighbors.
