Series 2 of Under Our Sky is currently in the works. The design process began in Kaiping, China when I visited my mother’s hometown in September - October 2024. My first visit was in 2003/4 when I was much younger, and the only memories I had included: feeding the caged chicken we had bought to eat, playing pretend hit+run and hospital with my cousin in the balcony, making my toddler cousin dance with empty water bottles, the itch of mosquito bites, and riding on a motorcycle at night.
As the design process continues after the trip, back in San Francisco, ideas of merging Bay Area icons come into mind.
Cons? I wish it was more messy? like in my collages or paintings, there is this quality of fragility, fragmentation, this is much more apparent. While I do feel an affinity towards this work, there is something missing.
As of November 2024, three of our scarf designs have been produced in a limited batch of 18, in stores at On Waverly in Chinatown, San Francisco, CA.
Under Our Sky is the inaugural silk scarf collection by Chris M Yee. Harnessing the everchanging seasons and inspired by traditional Chinese patterns, these scarves are made to be worn, loved, and passed onto the next generation. At the core of Chris’s work is the idea of change, an inconsistent rhythm that keeps bringing in new life and eroding away yesterdays. Under Our Sky challenges traditional patterns while immersing contemporary techniques and influences. Under our age of globalization, diasporic communities, and fast fashion, our scarves are made for those who value quality, heritage and responsibility for their mark in the world.
Summer
Evergreen
Spring
Eclipse
Winter
Series One Prototypes (below) includes 6 designs exploring the change of time through
seasons in the year (winter, spring, summer, autumn)
celestial events (eclipse)
evergreen
Summer was the first idealized design in May 2023. The border is constructed by a repeating pattern of the same modified symbol, taken from Chinese ceramics, often seem in daily ceramic ware. Talons rotate in the center, originally from a failed attempt to digitize white chicken feet into a sticker design. Decorative organic lines rotating the scarf were recycled from a former illustration, Displacement (2020).
I had lots of fun creating further designs, I would easily become hyper-focused on creating the work, felt effortless. A big part of this series was a balance of my love for color, graphic design, patterns (traditional and contemporary), and fashion. I wanted to create wearable pieces that could represent the past and present in a colorful, eye-capturing style.