Yee I-Lann is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses photomedia, textiles, collaborative weaving, video, and installation. Drawing on archival research, her works center on the complex geopolitical history of archipelagic Southeast Asia and their continuing impact on contemporary social experiences. Her works engage with themes of colonial history, decolonization, neocolonialism, globalization, cultural resilience, and belonging, while critically unpacking the “notions of power and who has power in storytelling”. With acuity and wit, her works foreground counter-narratives and marginalized histories that challenge dominant representations. Since returning to her hometown of Sabah in 2017, Yee has been developing collaborative mat (tikar in Malay) weaving projects with sea and land-based communities in the region. Working with indigenous materials and techniques, she employs the woven mat as a medium, method and philosophy. Emphasizing shared authorship and collective making, she seeks to create a space for dialogue and exchange.
Yee’s recent solo exhibitions took place at Kunstmuseum Thun (2025), Singapore Art Museum (2024), Berkley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (2024), Minneapolis Institute of Art (2022), and CHAT (Hong Kong, 2021). She has also exhibited at Guggenheim (New York, 2026), He Art Museum (Shunde, 2026), KADIST (Paris, 2025), Hood Museum (Hanover, 2025), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, 2024), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, 2024), Barbican Art Gallery (London, 2024), “The Spirits of Maritime Crossing” presented by Bangkok Art Foundation as a Collateral Event at the 60th Venice Biennale (Venice, 2024), Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, 2023), NGV Triennial (Melbourne, 2023), Gwangju Biennale (2023), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, 2023), New Taipei City Art Museum (2023), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2023 and 2017), National Gallery Singapore (Singapore, 2022), Istanbul Biennial (2022), Aichi Triennale (2022), and Asia Pacific Triennial (Brisbane, 2021 & 1999), among others.
Yee currently lives and works in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
