Chi Kiu So

whiter than white

whiter than white is a white-on-white painting made by repeatedly writing the phrase “whiter than white” across a pure white canvas using correction fluid. Written continuously, line by line, echoing the repetitive punishment exercises of a schoolchild instructed to correct their behaviour. The work reflects on my experience as a Hong Kong immigrant in the UK and the pressures of adaptation, assimilation and belonging. Correction fluid becomes both a material and a metaphor: something normally used to erase mistakes, here used to create an impossible instruction. The phrase suggests an endless demand to become “more” acceptable, yet there can be no colour whiter than white. Almost invisible against the white surface, the writing asks the viewer to look closely. What initially appears to be an empty canvas gradually reveals an obsessive act of repetition, raising questions about identity, conformity and the psychological experience of trying to belong in a new society.