FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington Art Gallery announces its season-opening show, “Nocturnes” by painter and printmaker Michel Droge.

This exhibition of new large oil paintings runs from Sept. 8 to Oct. 9. The opening reception is from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, with a conversation with the artist at 5:30 p.m. The events are free and open to the public.

In “Nocturnes,” Droge approaches the qualities of night that evoke feelings of the sublime — the powerful and disorienting diminution of the self-absorbed by the vastness and impenetrability of the deep night sky and ocean. Climate change and its effect on coastal communities are concerns at the heart of Droge’s work — beneath the mystery and melancholy of her darkly luminous environments runs the artist’s insistent question of how to represent what cannot (yet) be clearly seen.

Droge exhibits internationally. She conducts research in Maine’s island and coastal communities along with her students at the Maine College of Art.

The UMF Art Gallery and the Department of Sound, Performance and Visual Inquiry acknowledge the assistance of the Maine Arts Commission in developing the exhibition.

The gallery is at 246 Main St., behind the UMF Admissions Office. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

For more information or to make an appointment, contact Sarah Maline, UMF Art Gallery director, at maline@maine.edu or 207-778-1062 or visit the website at artgalleryumf.org.