Maria Sibylla Merian
These works are part of my ongoing investigation into the life and work of 17th century Dutch entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian. I am currently working on a graphic novel about her life and my journey following in her footsteps.
In 1699, Merian sold 255 of her paintings to finance travel for her and her daughter to Suriname to study the insects of the Amazon rainforest. She is often cited as the first person to illustrate the full life cycles of insects and to undertake a purely scientific expedition from Europe to South America.
Work from this series has been included in Hotheads (2020) at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, and Flora Fantastic (2022) at apexart, New York City, curated by Tashima Thomas and Corina Apostol.
The project was included in a Garmany Foundation Grant, which supported research and travel to Suriname in 2023 for myself, David Wagner, Entomology Professor at the University of Connecticut, and Kristof Zyskowski, Ornithology Collection Manager at the Yale Peabody Museum.
In 2024 I was awarded a STEAMplant grant through Pratt institute, which supported my second trip to Suriname and the initial stages of the graphic novel.
Installation of ‘Two Women and a Peacock Flower’ in Flora Fantastic at apexart, Nov-Dec 2022, Curated by Tashima Thomas and Corina Apostol
