Dear Forgiveness I saved a plate for you. 2022

The title of the painting is taken from the poem “Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out” by Richard Siken. Abstraction, like poetry, reaches beyond literal representations to move or interrelate with an audience. Chao paints primarily with a large, rectangular knife, applying the paint kinetically and with roughness. Housepaint covered with the interference blue acrylic gives the work an underlying sheen, while thick oil adds an opaque richness.