Empires of Privateers and Their Glorious Ventures

Empires of Privateers and Their Glorious Ventures refers to the colonial history of the western empire plundering on natural and economic resources in Asia in 17th and 18th century.  This image is transferred to the silk cloth. The work of batik is enormous yet filled with details and its composition is rich in rhythm. The island in the foreground caught the light from the sky. In the medium and long shot of the scene, there are tiny gangs of pirates floating on the surface of the ocean. The four-meter-long panoramic scene appears to be as if it is an expanded oriental scroll, telling the tales of this sea and neighboring islands. On the top and bottom of the batik, there is a row of dark-colored print consisting of three strips, the outer two are patterns of plants, and surprisingly, we would find the inner third strip featuring countless skulls, revealing the history of the victory built on numerous innocent lives and death. This work in 2010 also predicts the pending uneasiness of the fight for hegemony among the countries around South China Sea and western countries, since then and to the future. 

This work of Yee is a powerful and name-deserved epic. To be more accurate, it is an epic sung by a woman from grassroots with care and wisdom.