The painting‘s name ‘Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors’ comes from a 1965 Ukrainian film by the Soviet filmmaker Sergei Paraijanov. However, the painting does not directly relate to the film content. The artist only borrows the film title to suggest how he inserts his artistic ancestors, such as Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Barnett Newman, and others, and his familial ones into the work. The ‘shadows’ here are not negative. Instead, it stands for David Diao’s inheritance and development of all these ancestors.