A Way Forward, Caiti Chan

Exhibition: July 6-25, 2024 at the Elk Grove Fine Arts Center

Artist Statement

My art practice is process driven, focusing on the paint’s materiality, and experimenting with other materials that cause various reactions on the surface. While I paint, I reflect on the changes in my life. Though not literally depicted, it is imbued by the process of making, writing,
and reflecting. Discovering new mediums is vital to my process, but I commonly use acrylic or water-based paints to layer multiple times on canvas, paper, or wood. Pouring and layering paint makes up large areas of my work with the edition of making marks by hand with wet or dry medium. Some processes include using isopropyl alcohol mixed with paint, as it causes a reaction on the surface and creates serendipity. Although experimentation with medium is a huge part of my process, my ultimate goal is to use abstraction as a conversation starter. I want to keep the viewer searching, and to inspire communion with one another.

My show A Way Forward is a cumulative body of work that reflects the joys and struggles of the past five years. From deep loss to immense joy, the works in A Way Forward are time stamps of memory and emotion. They hold much of my grief, while simultaneously emitting hope in the midst of hardship. As I have navigated these past five years, the work has grown and evolved with me as I have persevered through my own adversity. My hope is that the viewer can embrace the universes held in these paintings and feel encouraged.

Sample Gallery

About the Artist

Caiti Chan is a Chinese-American artist born and raised in Sacramento, CA. She received her BA and MA at Sacramento State University, and has a studio residency at Verge Center for the Arts in Sacramento since 2017. Her paintings are process driven and involve experimentation with paint and other materials to create large atmospheric abstractions.