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Artist Nikki S. Lee directs her film “a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee,” which will make its West

Who is Nikki S. Lee?

The South Korean-born performance artist and 1999 graduate of New York University has become internationally known for her galleries of photographs which feature her under the guise of a variety of identities. And spectators all over the world wonder who she really is.

Tonight, the mystery continues as the UCLA Hammer Museum screens Lee’s debut film “a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee” for the first time on the West Coast.

“a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee” is a one-hour, documentary-style film based on the events of Lee’s life over the past two years.

“Nikki portrays two selves. One self that is kind of like a socialite, partying artist, and the another self that is kind of this bookish, very serious artist,” said Matthew Schenning, the registrar of the Tonkonow Gallery which exhibits Lee’s work in New York. “She went back and forth between the two in the film, and you are left figuring out who the real Nikki is.”

The film explores not just themes of identity, but plays with the concept of reality as well.

“It’s not 100 percent documentary. It’s mixed,” said Lee. “You can’t tell if it’s acting or not acting, or if it’s a performer or not. It’s really a fake documentary based on real life.”

“It’s basically sort of like a documentary in a documentary,” added Schenning. “And what’s real and what’s unreal is a little uncertain.”

The film, which was shot throughout 2005, follows the real-life events of Lee as she travels to a number of cities, including Paris, Venice, Mexico City and Seoul.

In many ways, it is a direct extension of previous work that she has exhibited all over the world. Lee spent several years assimilating by dress and action in a variety of different social subcultures. Her galleries of photos have featured her assuming the identities of punks, yuppies, tourists, rappers, schoolgirls, dancers and elders.

It can be confusing. But as Lee says, while the two Nikkis in the film may be a part of her real self, neither Nikki is actually her.

“It all comes out of the fact that everyone thinks they know who Nikki is from her body of photographs,” said Schenning. “But in making this film it’s saying you don’t really know who Nikki really is.”

The film may speak to the identity of Lee herself, but may be applicable to any person’s identity as well.

“The motivation of making this film came because I was interested in people’s (personas),” said Lee. “I was interested in making a documentary about two characters to make people think about the gap between inside identity and outside identity.”

The film has already been screened at a number of museums across the country, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y.

“When it was shown at MoMA, it had a really great reaction. Everyone seemed like they really enjoyed it a lot,” said Schenning. “They laughed at the appropriate times and it seemed well-received.”

Lee has also been pleased with the response to the film. But she has no specific intended reaction that she hopes to draw from the film’s viewers.

“I want to leave it open for the audience,” said Lee, mysterious as ever.