American artist, born 1975, Volcano, Hawai'i 

October  2015, I moved to the Big Island, Hawaiʻi as a full time resident. It had taken me thirty-five years to follow my footsteps back to my place of origin. Almost. I reside in Mahiki not Volcano.

Nearly a decade later…
With my beloved husband Joshua, I have lived in the same home for the longest period in my life. My return has in many ways lead me to reflect deeply on my family story and ancestral lineage. I now see for the  the first time the importance to include my Chinese name as a practicing artist; to be known by my birth name in entirety: Ajna Joy Ch’iu Lichau. To me, my name speaks to the complexity of my family story. This story has informed my practice in many different reflections and mediums. 

My current body of work consists of two projects (works in progress): Flora prints/Hawaiian native plants and Dew prints/imagined landscapes. These pieces are created with a play of chance and meditative control using simple materials: gathered leaves and flowers from our farms forest, morning dew on grass, paper, sumi ink, water, and white gold or copper leaf. 



SELECTED EXHIBITIONS


2015 

Pure Surface, Valentines, movement -Dawn Stoppiello, text- Endi Bogue Hartigan, film- Ajna Lichau, Portland Oregon.

White Noise 2.0, Worksound International/Natural History, Portland Oregon.

2014 

Whats Funny?, Procvetaj Festival, Paviljon Cvijeta Zuzonic, Belgrade, Serbia

2012 

XXX, MDW Fair, Chicago, Illinois.

EFF Portland, GalleryHOMELAND, Portland, Oregon.

2011 

Third Strike: 100 Performances for the Hole, SOMarts, San Francisco, California. 

2010 

Night Light: Multimedia Garden Party, SOMarts, San Francisco, California.

Dominion, Tribute Gallery, Portland Oregon.

East West Project, Espace 72, Dison/Verviers, Belgium.

2009 

Girls on film, Espace apART - Free art-base - F518, Guangzhou, China.

East West Project, Espace 72, Dison/Verviers, Belgium.

It’s the way that you move, Million Fishes Gallery, SF California.

2008 

East West Project, Espace 72, Dison/Verviers, Belgium.

Water, The Garage, San Francisco.

Accoutre, Worksound, Portland Oregon.

2007

Collectif 2007, Espace 72, Dison/Verviers, Belgium.

Ajna Lichau & Jessica Pezalla, Mark Wolfe Contemporary, SF California.

East West Project, Espace 72, Dison/Verviers, Belgium.

Onde, Les Contemporains, Bruxelles, Belgium.

2006 

Ajna Lichau, Spur Projects, Portola Valley, California

Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition, SFAI, Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, SF California.

Body functions, screening at the 9th Havana Biennial, Cuba.

Heavenly Bodies, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California.

2005

 Emerge, GenArt; The Warfield building, San Francisco, California.

Participate, MonkeyFresh Studios, San Francisco, California.

2004 

The Chicken Show, Crucible Steel Gallery, San Francisco, California.

Nurturing the New 2004, NurtureArt Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.Figurative Photographs, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York.

2002 

Moments of Clarity: A midsummer night interlude, Sotheby’s, New York. 

Donnata Estetica, Art Point Black, Florence, Italy.

2001 

New Work, Ajna and El Nino, Apogee Gallery; Stevenson Fine Art, New York.

2000 

Parsons Senior Exhibition, The Gallery on 13th Street, New York.
Parsons Benefit Auction, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York.

1999 

New Visions, MaxMara Boutique, New York.
Parsons Benefit Auction, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York.

1997 

Hermony, Catch 22 Gallery, New York. 

EDUCATION

2006 

MFA, New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California.

2000 

BFA, Photography, (awarded honors), Parsons School of Design, New York.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

2010 

Michelle Weidman, “Review: Dominion.” Ultrapdx, August 

2007 

Koppman, Debra, “Ajna Lichau and Jessica Pezalla,” Artweek, March.

2006

Morris, Barbara. “Ajna Lichau at Spur Projects,” Artweek, December.

Fischer, Jack. “Technology & Identity, S. J. exhibition explores how the digitallandscape is shaping perceptions of the human mind,” Mercury News, March 19. 

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