Hildy Maze
Heaven, Earth, Human
October 1 - October 16, 2021

My Pet Ram is pleased to present Heaven, Earth, Human, a solo exhibition of work by East Hampton artist Hildy Maze (b. 1949, Brooklyn - d. 2020, East Hampton). This show highlights large-scale figurative paintings Maze produced between 2008 - 2013. A devoted student of Tibetian Buddhist Meditation for much of her life, Maze’s artistic practice centers around the principles of Dharma Art and its holistic approach. Maze studied under Chögyam Trungpa, widely known as the preeminent teacher of Tibetian Buddhism. Through the tenets of Heaven, Earth, and Human, as outlined in Trungpa’s book True Perception, creativity is directed to arise out of a state of true awareness both in mind and body. The idea of self is placed aside in lieu of a direct, non-aggressive expression. It is less about the achievement or performance of art and more about the ability to let things just exist, flow and be open.

With those concepts in mind, Maze’s series of paintings made between 2008 - 2013 showcase Maze’s innate physicality in her process. Gestural and painterly, you can see the splashes and drips of paint that Maze fervently applied to her canvases. Expressionist masters like De Kooning and Bischoff come to mind. Figures vibrate with profound energy as they huddle and mass together, creating a deep empathetic response from the viewer. In Maze’s own words, this series is her declaration of pain, of mourning the earth she felt so deeply connected to and the suffering it endures at the hands of humans. 

Heaven, Earth, Human is an exploration of the mind, showcasing Maze’s commitment to liberation of the self, and allowing unconditional expression to ensue. Through a lifetime of learning, meditating and painting, you can feel Maze’s generosity of spirit in her work. Heaven, Earth, Human opens October 1, 2021 at My Pet Ram with a reception being held on Friday, October 8th from 6-9pm.

Hildy Maze (b. 1949, Brooklyn - d. 2020, East Hampton) was an American artist with Turkish. Russian, and Austrian heritage. Born in Brooklyn, NY she received a BFA from Pratt Institute. Her work was influenced by her 25-year study and practice of Tibetan Buddhist meditation. She is best known for her abstract oil on paper drawings and contemplative painted collages. For years, Hildy lived and worked in her loft in Tribeca, NYC before moving to East Hampton, NY where she continued to practice Tibetan Buddhist meditation and make art. Maze exhibited her work in galleries in New York City, Europe, Bejing, China, Poughkeepsie, and New York.

“My work is driven by a curiosity into the investigation of mind through art. None of us can avoid thoughts, but through awareness of our pitfalls, beauty, strengths, and weaknesses we can open windows into the mind. The core of my contemplative art practice is to visually embody the blind spots as a result of our thoughts. I am interested in the study of how the mind works as a means of gaining insight, how we communicate, how we create an identity through form, emotions, and consciousness, and how we hide in that creation. Essentially this work is about all of us and the empty, clear and unconditional nature of mind we all have. When we know the nature of our mind we will know the nature of our world.” - Hildy Maze