Ajna Lichau continues...
A logical extension of these dramatic, film noir images are dramatic moody videos. In the basement installation area, we find "San Shi (dispersion)." A layer of sand spread across the floor serves as a screen upon which an overhead video is projected. A nude, female figure floats, face down, in a pool of water. The figure distorts and morphs, shadows shift upon the water, then grotesque distortions of the surface and form occur, appearing rippled, swollen, rotting. The whole shape of hair appears flat; its relentless stillness lends a moody, ominous note. In blackness, the pulsing, swirling beam of lights takes on the compelling, hallucinatory effect desired by the artist.
"Fountain" presents a large, room-sized video projected onto a layer of scrim and the wall behind, showing mirror images of a young woman (the artist) perched on a rock outcropping. She is naked, dark hair pulled back. Harsh light casts face and front of body in a blinding glare of white, while the back dissolves into darkness. Sounds of the ocean play in the background. A rushing stream arcs out from below the figure, and then trickles off in the crescendo of the piece. Lichau sites European fountains as an inspiration for the piece (think "Manneken Pis") but in our conceptually-framed modern art context we naturally relate the work as well to Duchamp, and his infamous watershed objet trouvé.
Following this theme of dispersion of bodily fluids, "Licking" is much more modest in scale, with a small (12") Sony Trinitron monitor placed insistently on the floor: one must crouch or kneel to get a good look. In this work, we see the artist more clearly, glossy black hair hanging down on her face, coral lipstick on thick lips which part to allow a broad, moist tongue to make repetitive strokes on an unseen wall of glass. The artist seems compelled to repeat this sensual, bizarre and somewhat grotesque act - in the service of her own domineering vision.
Lichau clearly holds nothing back, her sense of contemporaneity matched by her fearlessness and intensity. These works are certainly memorable - the images on canvas dramatic and evocative, the installations challenging, edgy, and assertive. As her work evolves, we may discover where this exploration of a theatricalized sense of being will take her.
"Ajna Lichau" closed in October at Spur Projects, Portola Valley.
Barbara Morris is a contributing editor to Artweek.
