Asia
Yee I-Lann
Wherein one nods with political sympathy and says I understand you better than you understand yourself, I’m just here to help you help yourself
2013
Wherein one nods with political sympathy and says I understand you better than you understand yourself, I’m just here to help you help yourself
Sarcastically titled to call attention to the problematic notions underlying colonialism, this photograph by Yee I-Lann shows hundreds of Native Malaysians seated quietly behind one of their colonial oppressors. The artwork belongs to Yee’s series Picturing Power that deals with the destabilizing impacts of neo-colonialism and globalization on Southeast Asia’s history. Yee approaches the aesthetics and politics of the ethnographic gaze with both irony and humanity, challenging the modes of seeing inherent to the British colonization of Malaysia.
Addressing the turbulent geopolitical history of Southeast Asia’s archipelagos, Yee's photography-based practice engages with issues of colonialism, neo-colonialism, structures of power, and historical memory. Yee I-Lann's photography and photomontages explore colonial histories by addressing notions of power, historical memory, and visual culture. She draws upon many visual sources including popular culture, archival photographs, and everyday objects. Surfacing histories and knowledge that counter dominant narratives in Malaysian culture, Yee employs a complex visual vocabulary drawn from historical references, popular culture, archives, and everyday objects. She has recently begun working collaboratively with sea-based and land-based communities and Indigenous mediums in Sabah, Borneo. Yee is also a co-founding associate of The Ricecooker Archives: Southeast Asian Rock ’n’ Roll Treasury with her partner Joe Kidd and has worked as a production designer in the Malaysian film industry.