photo: KIOKU Keizo
The Orang Besar Series – Kain Panjang with Parasitic Kepala
| Artist | YEE I-Lann |
|---|---|
| Year | 2010 |
| Material/ Technique | Direct digital mimaki inkjet print with acide dye, batik canting Remazol Fast Salt dyes on 100% silk twill |
| Size/ Duration | H106.7 × W234cm |
| Copyright Notice | © Yee I-Lann |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2012 |
| Description | Born in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in 1971. Lives and works in Kuala Lumpur. Born to a New Zealand mother and a Sino-Kadazan father, Yee lived in Adelaide, Australia for a nine-year period beginning in high school. Exploring her own multi-ethnic roots, she creates poetic photographic works that allow the viewer to imagine the richness and variety of Southeast Asian history. She re-examines the framework of modernity under which power is determined by a single nation state, taking on the themes of history, politics, and economics in Malaysia and revealing the chaos and conflict in society arising from the interplay between tradition and contemporaneity. Yee depicts human figures, identified as ‘Orang Besar’ (authority figures, literally big persons) power structures, on Batik cloth with a traditional technique of wax-resist dyeing used in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Orang Besar are members of a ruling class that has controlled the islands of Southeast Asia since pre-colonial times. The other motifs portrayed on the bright yellow cloth symbolizing Sultanates, include banyan trees, mimosa, and the insect-eating pitcher plant. These are used in an anthropomorphic manner paralleling the nature of human beings relationship to power. These works invite a critical view of traditional power structures in South East Asia and the peoples relationship to wealth and power. "Empires of Privateers and Their Glorious Ventures" is a part of this series. Inspired by the history and culture of the varied peoples who have crisscrossed the seas of Southeast Asia, the artist creates new stories by blending and combining fact and fiction. By empathizing with people who have freely crossed invisible borders, she asks herself why are we the way we are. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.