"Fantastical," on the other hand, is full of nuance and connotations. An alternate form of the word fantastic, according to Webster's, it can refer to something that exists only in someone's fantasy, to something "having a strange or weird appearance" or to something deemed extravagant or eccentric.

As different as they are, all these definitions fit the installation gracing the walls and floors of the Montalvo Gallery in Saratoga now through Jan. 26. Called "Fantastical Topographies," the exhibit is actually a two-woman show by Bay Area­based artists Ulrike Palmbach and Genevieve Quick.

One of the most striking pieces is Palmbach's Inertia, a moveable feast for the eyes that is comprised of a scattering of "sculptures" resembling symmetrical stones, ridged seashells, strange seed pods or perhaps giant tops that have fallen on their sides. They are, in fact, constructed from dark gray felt, which Palmbach cut out of blankets and glued together to form distinctive ridged cones, which range from the size of a hand to knee-high.

Montalvo's visual arts director, Michele Rowe-Shields, curator of the exhibit, sees the structures as objects that were once in motion and may be soon again: "Inertia seems vulnerable to the forces of chance—a strong wind, the returning tides or the touch of a curious scavenger. The resulting work creates both a natural and a mental landscape with a simultaneous feeling of movement and rest."

A native of Germany now living in San Francisco, Palmbach is known for creating enigmatic objects from commonplace materials. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and exhibits regularly throughout the Bay Area.

Quick holds a master of fine arts degree from the same institute, along with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan. Her works are more realistic in form and shape, one such example being Rousseau's Paradigm, a chunky miniature landscape formed out of Plasticine—an oil-based modeling clay—along with wire and foam. The work resembles a mountain covered with mossy vegetation and petite trees. The only thing missing is people, which the viewer almost expects to see popping out from behind nooks and crannies like a crowd of Lilliputians gawking at Gulliver.

"At the root of my work is the politics of scale and its relationship between the model and the actual," she says of how she scales her "fantastical" landscapes.

Admission to the Montalvo Gallery is free. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 408.961.5813.