Yee I-Lann’s (b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) multidisciplinary practice interrogates the complex geopolitical histories of Southeast Asia. For her first major solo presentation at a US museum, the artist has created sixty new works as part of her ongoing TIKAR/MEJA series (2020–). According to Yee, the meja (table) represents “the violence of administration” in colonial and patriarchal societies. In contrast, she sees the tikar (woven mat) as a fundamentally feminist and egalitarian support that grounds sitters to the earth.
Yee works in collaboration with communities of women weavers—including the sea-based Bajau and Sama DiLaut peoples of Sabah—to create mats that construct an open platform, inviting visitors to participate in thoughtful exchange. The artworks’ materials—tropical Pandanus leaves and plastic waste gathered from the Sulu-Celebes Sea—suggest the importance of...