"Swell," Based on Juliacks's Work, at Living Theater Juliacks is a comic artist whose work - crude, ornate, subjective and dreamy - is not for those who prefer their narrative crisp and tidy. But "Swell," her graphic novel about a bereaved family, a daughter in particular, is an immersive experience for brave readers. Now a production based on it has come to the Living Theater as part of the Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival, straining mightily to conjure the story's lush stream of consciousness. The plot's spine is somewhat simple: Emmeline (Emma Galvin) struggles with college social life and her substance-abusing parents (Katey Parker and Dan Vidor), as she recalls her alternately fractious and affectionate relationship with her sister, Lucy (Eija Ranta), who has died of unclear causes. Emmeline dates a boy; dances at a disco; has conversations with Lucy in flashbacks; retreats from the world to a natural lair she and her sister explored as children. Texture trumps dialogue in "Swell." As in the graphic novel, the dominant color scheme is black and white. The theater interior - Damon Pelletier is the scenic designer; Taryn Humphrey handles the space installation - is an environment of lacy, frayed strips of cloth. Jared Mezzocchi's projections offer words and settings rendered in Juliacks's expressionistic style. Paper wigs, by Sam Creely, extend the walls" ragged motif. Sound design by Sam Kusnetz is a deft but splintered montage of electronic music and effects. Ms. Galvin, compact and steady, provides a crucial anchor amid the florid visuals surrounding her. The effort is evident in this production, a work in progress since 2008, directed by Kathleen Amshoff. The show hinges precariously on Ms. Galvin. Without her you could lose your bearings in the kaleidoscope. But she carries you through the story's emotional netherworld, and you emerge grateful for having made Emmeline's acquaintance.