Respite from the cold and the gray in Belltown

Two spaces in Belltown are displaying art that is both in and out of the mainstream but definitely worth a look. Katy Stone is featured at Suyama Space with an installation of painted, clear-plastic sheets. Carole d'Inverno and Karen Kargianis present more traditional undertakings, respectively, oils on canvas and figurative ceramic sculpture at Atelier 31. Their small solo shows are joined by a lively cross-section of the gallery's stable, "Fundamentally Small."

Katy Stone moved from Iowa to Seattle in 1992 to complete her master of fine arts degree at the University of Washington. Since graduating in 1994, she has had a string of shows in a variety of alternative spaces culminating in her gallery debut at Greg Kucera last year. Interest in her work is building in New York, California and Hawaii with a variety of commissions and shows coming up next year.

Her new Suyama Space installation straddles painting and sculpture, extending the basic idea introduced at Kucera: Hundreds of strokes painted on transparent acetate rolls are first cut up, then layered and suspended from great heights in front of a wall. Rising to heights of over 20 feet, each assemblage manages to make the paint marks appear to float on the wall, in some cases hovering, in others, cascading like a waterfall of dots and dashes.

Individual colors dominate each piece (blue, red, white, orange, yellow) and point toward various allusions to nature: water, leaves, petals, flocks of birds. Each setup explores a different formal solution to the main material idea. The viewer's chief enjoyment resides in unraveling each configuration while apprehending its stunning overall impact.

Carole d'Inverno is a largely self-taught Bainbridge Island artist whose large, 4- and 5-foot-square paintings are generic portraits, not based on real people (which could be the problem) but improvised in the studio. Usually, such folk-art caricatures are smaller and, indeed, the smallest, 1-foot-square pictures, seem more within her grasp. Not realistic enough to be true portraits, nor abstracted enough to qualify as expressionistic, d'Inverno's efforts fall flat for the most part.

Much more realistic, the ceramic heads and pedestal-size figures of Karen Kargianis are firmly anchored in identity and psychology. Each head's facial features seem unique with a penetrating gaze.

Kargianis has a long way to go before attaining artistic originality. Attractive as her low-fire ceramic work is, the examples of her two main teachers, Doug Jeck at the UW and Mike Moran at The Evergreen State College, are still far too apparent. Jeck's fragmented body parts join Moran's bone-dry surfaces in sweetened versions that add pink, yellow, tan and beige glazes to slips, tinted liquid clay. She also shares her teachers' penchant for armless torsos, though several of hers have a more tender touch. Despite the beautiful display and lighting, this is still high-quality student-level work.

A few of the artists in "Fundamentally Small" (like Patte Loper and Rineke Engwerda) have reputations beyond Seattle, but most are struggling regional artists sure to gain more attention in time. I'll be watching Doug Smithenry, currently working in a funny paint-by-number technique as well as altered, realistic portraits. Molly Norris Curtis' male and female figures are caught in amusing and dramatic vignettes. And Rebecca Raven's self-portrait is a quiet standout.

The works in "Fundamentally Small" bear stamps of individual vision and talent that are satisfying as well as serious.