Lot 095
YEE I-LANN
b. Sabah, 1971
SARANG, 2005
Digital photography on Kodak Professional paper,
edition 8 of 8
61cm x 61cm
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Singapore.
EXHIBITED
Universes in Universe, Singapore Biennale,
Singapore, 2006.
ESTIMATE RM 10,500 – RM 12,000
PRICE REALISED RM 23,520.00 |
One of thirteen digitally manipulated photographs from the Sulu Stories series, Sarang (nest, spider web or den) illustrates the tranquil and vast seascape of Sulu with a monitor lizard on the foreground and a native figure placed further back to the right carrying a vessel on his shoulder, his legs immersed in the seawater. In an interview with Gina Fairley in 2006, Yee I-Lann explains how landscape has shaped who she is:
“With “Sulu Stories”, each picture is a beginning point. By exploring the past we fabricate our understanding of the present. Sabah and the Sulu zone is an archipelago. The horizon is dominant. Borders are watery. Coastlines such as the Bahala Cliffs in Sandakan seen in ‘The Archipelago’, or Mount Tumatangis in ‘Awn Hambuuk Sultan’ have for millennia been physical markers for its peoples and traders. I have always been aware of Sulu as an intrinsic part of Sabah history. I am also attracted to the region’s history as the sovereignty of Sabah (complicated by British colonial rule), which is currently under contention at The Hague and was a major part of the Konfrontasi with Indonesia and the Philippines in the 60s.”
Yee I-Lann has earned her way of becoming a successful photo media-based artist exploring social, power, historical and cultural issues by speculating an image with its context. Besides creating art, she is also a production designer for feature films locally and abroad. Her solo exhibitions include Picturing Power and Tabled, a body of work made for Museum Van Loon’s Suspended Histories exhibition in 2013, formed part of two solo exhibitions in 2014 - at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York and Silverlens Gallery at Gilman Barracks, Singapore; Fluid World which travelled to Australia and Taiwan in 2011; Boogeyman (Kuala Lumpur) in 2010; Horizon (Kuala Lumpur) in 2003; BUY by labDNA (Singapore) in 2001 among others. Her digital print with batik on silk work titled Empires of Privateers and Their Glorious Ventures from the Orang Besar series was included in Curators’ Series #7. A Special Arrow Was Shot In The Neck…, at David Roberts Art Foundation, London, curated by Natasha Ginwala and Vivian Ziherl. The three “Kain Panjang” batik works from the series travelled to Daegu Photo Biennale 2014: Origins, Memories & Parodies, curated by Alejandro Castellote. Picturing Power, together with YB from the Orang Besar series was included in The Roving Eye: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, at ARTER in Istanbul, curated by Iola Lenzi (2015). In 2014, works from Picturing Power were also brought to Art Basel Hong Kong, the Milan Image Fair and Paris Photo by Silverlens Gallery. Her batik works can be viewed at the Love Me in My Batik: Modern Batik Art from Malaysia and Beyond exhibition at Ilham gallery, Kuala Lumpur until June 2016.
REFERENCE
http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2006/yee_i_lann
Yee I-Lann, Fluid World, Beverly Yong and Adeline Ooi, Valentine Willie Fine Art, 2010. |