In WARM, above, a girl is curled up on a mattress, snug as a bug in a cocoon of her own hair, wrapped around her and hanging over the side like a blanket. In ARC, top, several seem to float on top of each other in a human chain that forms an arch hovering over a mattress in what must be the most decorous out-of-body experience imaginable. Not content to defy ordinary expectations, they also defy most laws of physics. What does it all mean? The tone is Kafkaesque with hints of Bunuel, which is to say claustrophobic and surreal. There is also a distinct, if subliminal, Catholic girls school vibe. Here Zeringue probes the far regions of the subconscious imagination in meticulously crafted works that will resonate differently with different viewers. Wondrously obsessive, it’s kind of great, if profoundly eccentric, work.

~Eric Bookhardt
GATHERINGS: New Works by Monica Zeringue
Through October
Heriard-Cimino Gallery, 440 Julia St., 525.7300; www.heriard-cimino.com
METAMORPHOSES: Paintings by Saskia Ozols Eubanks
Through October
Soren Christensen Gallery, 400 Julia St. 569-9501; www.sorengallery.com