Charlene Liu's beautiful new works at Taylor De Cordoba are shot through with unease, ambiguity and the faintest whisper of danger. The show is the first in L.A. for the artist, who divides her time between New York and Eugene, Ore., but aspects of her style bring to mind others more familiar locally: Violet Hopkins and her camouflage watercolors and especially Kelly McLane and her mix of the bucolic and apocalyptic.
Liu revels in fluidity and flux. Her technique incorporates painterly washes and finely drawn line, collaged marbled papers and oil paint that appears to be printed rather than brushed on the page. Her imagery oscillates between recognizable (plants, rocks, animals, human limbs) and a dreamlike tempest of color, motion and change. Lyricism borders on chaos but never quite crosses over.
The most compelling pieces are those in which Liu flirts most daringly with that edge. In "Bramble Drift," soft, spiny, spore-like forms tumble across a vaguely aquatic teal and pale mint landscape. In the background, like a faded but troubling memory, stand posts askew and a structure in ruins.
The gorgeous "Flying Guillotine" has nearly manic ebullience, all the more impressive because the image features no blades, no weapons, merely a pomegranate branch laden with fruit. In a centrifugal burst of gold, brick, blood and charcoal, the pomegranates spill their seeds and Liu demonstrates how much energy can be pumped from the simplest subjects and the vaguest suggestions.
Taylor De Cordoba, 2660 S. La Cienega Blvd., (310) 559-9156, through Oct. 13. Closed Sundays and Mondays. www.taylordecordoba.com
