Erin Langner reviews the exhibition Sarah Awad: Transference and Speculation at James Harris Gallery, Seattle, on view through November 30, 2012.

Langner writes: "The curious objects within many of the paintings generate an instant magnetism through their familiarity; yet, a persistent darkness underlies each scene, most prominently in the works that contain humans. Sunday Afternoon’s impenetrable lawn of green constructs an atmosphere of void and melancholia to surround its unexplainable nude that gazes at its own shadow. The Visit at first looks like a delicate portrait, until the details of its bizarre composition are fully comprehended… Across all of these works, action happens, but the narrative Awad abstracts is only a tease; there is no explanation to be found."