An in-depth study of Mary Heilmann’s captivating works on paper that explores drawing as a form of daydreaming and memory-making for the influential abstract painter. Mary Heilmann’s works on paper are filled with the same sense as her influential abstract paintings, with a relaxed playful mood that enlivens a rigorous attention to form and color, leading to happy, productive geometries. Their suggestive power reflects the process Heilmann calls “daydreaming”: a gathering of images, sounds, and events from past and future travels, with the cyclical nature of memory informing her return to various motifs across nearly five decades of work.

Along with a foreword and curation by curator Alexis Lowry, Mary Heilmann: Works on Paper, 1973–2019 contains an essay by art historian Jo Applin and a personal reflection by painter Ilana Savdie, offering a compelling account of this previously underappreciated aspect of Heilmann’s practice. Complementing Heilmann’s 2024 exhibition Daydream Nation at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street, Works on Paper, 1973–2019 is curated and introduced by Alexis Lowry, with an essay by art historian Jo Applin and a personal reflection by artist Ilana Savdie, jointly providing an engaging overview of Heilmann’s captivating work and its relaxed meditative power.