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‘Nian Nian You Yu’

BATIK PATTERN

This pattern is inspired by a traditional Chinese cuisine, Steamed Sweet Sour Fish which is a significant dish at a Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Fish has its Chinese pronunciation as ‘Yu’(鱼 Yú /yoo/), which means surplus and fortune. So, there is a blessing speech as ‘Nian Nian You Yu’ in Chinese which means that ‘May you have surpluses and bountiful harvests every year.’ because they think if they have managed to save something at the end of the year, then they can make more in the next year. What is more, in ancient China, fish was also regarded having a function of exorcising.

The pattern is formed by a composition of 60mm by 60mm repeat units, selected from the head area of the fish and multiplied using the mirroring technique into various organization and ordering principles. The selected section of the hyper realistic drawing of the dish offers diverse visual details and complex interaction of planes that evolved into an atypical design. Although the area is mostly filled with organic shapes, primary geometries are still obvious such as triangle of the head and circles of the eyes. The objective of using combination of geometricised shapes is to develop a simplified and well put together configuration.

As for the ordering principle, symmetry became the focus for this whole pattern. The small section of repeat unit is being multiplied and mirrored over; and with four units of the section face each other forming a diamond shape in the middle. The connected section then being multiplied by every row but does not colliding with section below. This organization creates new diamond shapes which proportionately increase in size, making the composition become less highlighted in certain areas, thus creating geometrical harmony and balance.

As a Batik pattern, the Steamed Sweet Sour Fish is expressed in a warm colour scheme, comprising brown, orange and dull yellow. Derived from the subject, interestingly enough, the bold hues complement each other well even though the colour range seem narrow, resulting a subtle yet complementary contrast. The amount of the colours contributing in each shape spaces are the same, even so, dull yellow area became the most eye-catching colour in this composition as the yellow fill in bigger shapes that create fine negative space.

A rare subject matter for Batik, the Sweet and Sour Fish is surely a quirky derivation. As batik usually use diverse of shape normally organic shape, the morphology of the pattern opens up endless possibilities that relate to the adventurous, experimental and daring nature of the millennials. It is a wonder that something as common as food can be an impactful design inspiration and paves the way to reconnect us with our traditions. Batik is a fundamental heritage asset that tie an identity to our culture and valued by ancestors back in their day. Even with the rise of technology nowadays, this unique tradition that’s been contributing in arts eternally should not be forgotten by us, millennials.