Hilarie Mais

This exhibition brings together and presents a range of key works by abstractionist Hilarie Mais made over the last decade.

Hilarie Mais was born in the United Kingdom and lives and works in Sydney. Her work is characterised by a deep interest in the grid and its expressive possibilities. She makes abstract constructions and paintings that merge the formal structure of the grid with an interest in more organic forms found in nature.

Mais has been making work since the 1970s, influenced in part by her interest in the history of abstraction – in particular mid-20th century English constructivism, as well as later American minimalism including the work of Agnes Martin.

Mais’s work brings together formal geometry with biological and cellular structures to generate subtle visual experiences that are broadened expressively through the highly personalised application of paint. As such, the apparent formality of her works is undercut by emotional truth and underpinned by an organic and intimate sensibility, whilst the handmade quality of the works functions to personalise, even ‘feminise’ abstraction.

The exhibition is co-curated by Blair French and Manya Sellers, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.