FARMINGTON —The UMF Art Gallery presents the imagery of artist Pamela Johnson as its opening exhibit for the academic year. “BRING ME the girl: Wonder Tales, Ghosts and Catastrophes” will be on display from Sept. 14 through Oct. 27, at the UMF Art Gallery on the University of Maine at Farmington campus. The opening reception is from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14. The events are free and open to the public.

Johnson’s seductive paintings, drawings and prints mine myth, fairy tales and contemporary media to explore female identity. Lifting popular lines from movies (“bring me the girl!”), placing Disney heroines in unfamiliar situations and creating text fragments from secretarial shorthand, Johnson reveals the ways persistent social suppressions are embedded in visual and cultural languages.

Also on view is a new short film Johnson made in collaboration with artist Carolina Gonzalez Valencia — a meditation on catastrophic illness that honors the work of LifeFlight of Maine.

Johnson is associate professor of Art and Visual Culture at Bates College, where she teaches painting, drawing, printmaking, visual theory and advises senior theses in the studio arts.

Valencia is assistant professor of Art and Visual Culture at Bates College. Her work in film, video and other mediums engages gender, otherness, migration, diaspora and labor.

The gallery is located at 246 Main St., behind the UMF Admissions Office. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sundays 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.

Wonder Tales: Snow White Geisha (portion)