An antlered earth mother

Noémie Lafrance is a woman on the verge

 Walk about six blocks from the Bedford Street L train in Williamsburg. Climb two flights of rickety stairs to a funky apartment. The front room holds a long table, on which a very pregnant Noémie Lafrance stretches out, her belly resting on the wood, her right leg covered with what looks like moss. She looks a bit like a satyr; on her head are perfectly proportioned antlers.

Lafrance, a native of Québec, has gained notoriety for her site-specific works, performed in a stairwell, a parking garage, the McCarren Park pool. For this one she seems to be nesting, assisted by two robed acolytes.

Viewers sit at the table. Upon closer examination, the stubble on her leg turns out to be a brilliant countryside of miniature flora and fauna. This startling landscape, by designer Carlos Ancalmo, raises the promise of wonders to come.

But the tone of the performance soon shifts to that of an awkward mixer; we’re ordered to mirror the name-tagged spectator sitting opposite. Lafrance slides down the table on a sheepskin; her persona hovers somewhere between earth mother and indulged child.

A second antlered woman, Maré Hieronimus, wearing muddy red spike heels and little else, flicks her feather duster at us. Various tableaus indicate domestic behaviors, from tooth-brushing to homework.  But there’s no clear through-line to this display, other than Lafrance’s fantasy of women morphing into forest animals. It might work better at half the length and twice the energy.

Noémie Lafrance
Through Sunday
7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Address with reservation
$15-45, 718-302-5024
www.sensproduction.org