Contrasting creations

Their work is a contrast between hard and soft, intricate colorful quilts and ceramic works that mix clay and bronze.

On Friday, artists Kathy Weaver and Mary Seyfarth will present their work in an exhibit titled "Whimsical Musings" at the College of Lake County's Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art.

The exhibit opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. The exhibit continues to July 3.

Weaver said her work often reflects a political nature and involves issues of apartheid, feminism and anti-militarism. Building on a lifelong interest in technology, she chose to use robots to help convey her thoughts.

Weaver creates quilts that depict robots engaged in human activities, combining technology and art.

"You reinterpret a figure according to the times you live in," she said. "Robots are here to stay."

Among her images, Weaver shows technology and its relationship to nature in a series of cyborg females. In each one, the robot holds in its hand a gift to the earth such as a bird in "Complacent nature."

Weaver calls her quilts intricate collages. She uses air brushing because she wants no evidence of artist's hand to create a mechanistic image. But the images also feature a nurturing side with use of soft textiles such as velvets, silks and satins and details such as hand embroidery.

Humor adds human aspects to the robot but also helps underscore the suspicion that more is afoot than suggested at first glance.

"Things do not always appear on the surface. You sometimes have to smile when that happens," she said.

Those who view Seyfarth's pieces may see humor in how she alters the traditional shape. She creates three cylinders but they appear to have bumps grow out of them.

But she says she does not mean her pieces to be whimsical when referring to the exhibit's title. She simply wants to push the limit of the material.

"I'm about as whimsical as a rock," she adds.

Presenting work that she has created over 20 years, among her work are 5-foot-tall sculptures that combine bronze with ceramic elements.

"It explores a plutonic relationship. The bottle is made from the sphere. One is made from the other," she said.

What makes Seyfarth's work unique also is the material she uses. A series of cups are made using a purple clay that is found only in Yixing, China.

"It moves with the whim of what you want it to do. And when it is fired, it gives a clean line. It is an elegant looking clay," she said.

The cups, which are non-functional, are small, intimate and explore in humorous ways the bond between the cup and its handle.

"My work is about the relationship of the cup handle to its base," she said.

For information about the gallery including summer gallery hours, call curator Steve Jones at (847) 543-2240 or visit the gallery Web site at gallery.clcillinois.edu/.

The college is at 19351 W. Washington St. in Grayslake.