The “Language as Muse” and “Joys, Sorrows, & Concerns” exhibit will be on display at Brickbottom Gallery through February 27.

The works of three local artists – Marjorie Forté, Antionette Winters and Susan Schmidt – will be on display at Brickbottom Gallery through February 27.

The Muses, the daughters of Zeus, were the source of inspiration for the creativity, wisdom and insight on which all artists depend. For many artists language serves as Muse. It not only offers inspiration, but also interpretation.

Language as Muse, featuring the works of Forté and Winters, will explore different responses to language. In some instances, the works are visual responses to specific texts. In others, the text is incorporated with visual elements. In still others, the words themselves become the singular visual element.

Of her work, Susan Schmidt says, “Joys, Sorrows, & Concerns is an installation of projected drawings slowly moving over a screen of printed strips of paper. It began with drawings from the news media of immigrants in border detention centers that I later made into polymer plate prints. The projected images are a series of small symbols, such as a heads, drones and badges. The projection device was made by John Carney, from a discarded overhead projector.  I am interested in the ways that drawing allows us to consider current social issues differently than the way we see them on screens. A slower, more imaginative response to crisis. In this installation piece, I was thinking about problems for people seeking asylum in the U.S. and my prints portray human beings within that system, suspended and uncertain.”

At Brickbottom Gallery, 1 Fitchburg Street, Somerville.