Melpomene

Clio was Muse of history, Urania of astronomy, Melpomene of tragedy, Thalia of comedy, Terpsichore of the dance, Calliope of epic poetry, Erato of love-poetry, Polyhymnia of songs to the gods, Euterpe of lyric poetry.

Downstairs at Studio, Carolee Jakes’s “Invoking Melpomene” is a show of subtle, shimmering woodcuts.

After a few more stops to admire various swales and depressions—“There’s a sinkhole over there!”—we arrived at the Melpomene Pumping Station.

If those pairs — let alone the possibly illegal conjugation of “comedy” and “Melpomene” — sound a bit classical and even foreign, there’s a reason.

In each of of its three parts, “Melpomene,” “Assorted Selection” and “Entanglement,” she came across as all studied effects, self-fascinated yet never quite sincere.