“Nightmares Waiting for the Vaccine,” by Mildred Bachrach Submitted photo

Recent artworks by Mildred Bachrach will be on view from Monday, March 15, through Saturday, May 1, in the windows of the LA Arts Gallery in Lewiston.

“Lost Time Pandemic,” by Mildred Bachrach Submitted photo

Bachrach’s recent works employ repetitive imagery in mixed media as a response to the COVID pandemic and as a way of coping with today’s world. The images are simultaneously chaotic and orderly. Encouraging viewers to find pathways through the images, the works elicit personal responses and memories and, as in our current day-to-day lives, help viewers to create order out of chaos.

“Spread,” by Mildred Bachrach Submitted photo

After fifty years working as a specialist in nursing, Bachrach, of Pittsfield, received a master’s of fine arts from the Maine College of Art in 2019. She says, “A maximalist reaction to our world is where my mind is. As the pandemic rages on, my life in my mind, and in the material world which surrounds me, is not minimalist. It is lovely to look at a seascape with its sky and sea and open spaces on the canvas, but that is not the crowded reality most of us live in. Fracturing of objects that represent memories, dreams, and nightmares are shown in my current work on the pandemic. I worked with fracturing as a clinical nurse specialist. People are embarrassed by it; it depresses them; it is a burden that the mind works on to put the loss into perspective. Using fracturing in my work I hope to show people that fracturing is normal, a part of the process that the mind goes through to survive and to heal.”

“As an artist and professional caretaker for fifty years, I employ art as a healing mechanism. Art allows people to understand that others experience fracturing and that they are not alone in struggling with the phenomena of psychic trauma. Art focused on traumatic experiences can become a catalyst for healing. Psychic pain like an infection can erupt at any time. Art provides a conduit to release and heal the phenomena of psychic pain keeping it from festering under the surface,” she said.

Since 1973, LA Arts, the arts agency for the cities of Lewiston and Auburn Maine, has pursued a mission to engage and inspire a vibrant community through arts and culture. The agency works with governments, businesses, schools and local arts and cultural organizations to create opportunities for community members across the generations to experience, learn, and participate in the arts. LA Arts organizes arts programs and initiatives, supports the work of local artists and art organizations, and highlights the essential role the arts play in shaping an economically vital, socially integrated, and forward-looking future for its community. For more information, visit laarts.org.