Masterworks current artist-in-residence, Marie-Denise Douyon, is exhibiting her recent paintings in the Rose Garden Gallery in the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. The exhibition opened on February 29 and continues through Thursday. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Upon entering the gallery, one is confronted with richly colourful paintings and assemblages.

The paintings are a series of depictions of women, but most of the show is what initially appears to be abstract constructions made up of found and painted materials. Only upon closer inspection does one realise that actually each is an expression based upon certain proverbs, mostly Haitian but also African; places where Ms Douyon has lived and spent her growing up years.

Furthermore, all the material used in constructing these objects are recycled debris. This is a reflection of her interest in African culture and her concern for socio-environmental disasters.

But what is a proverb? I was interested enough to Google for a definition. Apparently one highly respected source is Wolfgang Mieder, who has written over 50 books on the subject. His definition is as follows: "A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of a folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorisable form and which is handed down from generation to generation."

The label beside each work of art, cites the proverb being expressed in that creation and explains its meaning. It also gives its source, whether Haitian or African.

It is encouraging to find an artist here in Bermuda who is also trying to give voice to concerns about the environment.

This is a world-wide issue, but often we go on with our daily lives as if it did not exist or at least we find it an issue that is beyond our power to affect in any meaningful way, so often, we just ignore it.

We tend to see Bermuda as a small, rather isolated place that does not have any appreciable impact on world-wide environmental problems, but we are all part of the problem, even here in our isolated paradise.

Of technical interest, especially to artists, is the source of her colour, for this is no ordinary paint she uses.

It is actually various colours of oil-based etching ink. She says that ordinary oil paint is not so rich and certainly, what she is exhibiting is notably intense.

By that I mean that her colours, while not bright, are deeply rich.

The constructions are so assembled as to be a complement to her palette. Most of her assemblages are of symmetrical composition, often with a circular base, but then, additionally, there are appendages fastened to the basic form, with collage elements on top of that. The end results are objects that marry the form to the colour so as to create something both powerful and strong.

This is not a large exhibition but one that is well worth a visit. There are only a few days left before it ends, however, so, if you have not visited this new museum, here is an opportunity to see both this exhibition and the rest of the museum's exhibitions.