Wrapping up the review of our ’80s collection on Weekly Art Hit, we feature Automology by Patty Warashina, one of the country’s best-known ceramic sculptors. Created in 1982, Automology plays on the idea of “bug.” As several women pull a sheet off what appears to be an iconic vehicle, an insect’s hind legs come into view.  Beginning July 12, you’ll be able to see this sculpture among about 140 of her works in the retrospective exhibition Patti Warashina:  Wit and Wisdom at Bellevue Arts Museum through October 27.

Warashina has created a remarkable body of work since she began working with ceramics in the early ’60s.  Her work is frequently about telling stories, often humorous, narratives that primarily depict exaggerated figures in dream-like situations–sometimes domestic, sometimes otherworldly. Widely recognized for her figurative ceramic works, Warashina writes, “Since I embarked on my journey as an artist, the image of the human body has been an absorbing visual fascination. It gives me a reference point to my own existence, the civilization in which I live, as well as my relationship to a historical past.”

The artist, a retired professor emerita from the University of Washington, is widely known and respected throughout the United States and other countries, including New Zealand, Australia and Japan, and she has received numerous awards for her work.

Warashina has additional works in the city of Seattle’s collection including ‘A’ Procession (A Procession of Northwest Visual Artists, located at the Washington State Convention Center.

Automology is in the Seattle City Light 1% for Art Portable Works Collection.

IMAGES:  Patti Warashina, Automology (1982); low-fire ceramics, mixed media.  Photos by Spike Mafford Photography.

Weekly Art Hit is featuring artworks every week from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the city’s public art program.