This work excavates powerful stories about women and mothers in nature that shape history and life today.
My most recent body of work depicts the artist, scientist, and mother: Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717).
Maria Sibylla Merian was a genius: she was one of the first entomologists and one of the first to study and document butterfly metamorphosis in the late 1600’s. Sibylla was a keen observer, who spent decades documenting the life cycle of butterflies, animals and plants from direct observation, in exquisitely detailed drawings and self-published books.
As an artist and mother of 2 young children studying an artist mother of two from 3 centuries past, I notice similar struggles working mothers still face today. As I paint, each story and myth about Maria Sibylla Merian is a source of hope and strength.
Maria Sibylla Merian: Observing Metamorphosis”, depicts a story where Maria would stay up all night to watch a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. She would famously rear hundreds of insects to draw them, sometimes taking years to observe one full life cycle. Her drawing hangs in the background. This painting is also emblematic of the sleep sacrifices mothers make every day for their children- every mother of a newborn knows the exhaustion of staying up all night.
Maria Sibylla Merian: In Flight”, shows Maria inside a painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard titled “Pre-arranged Flight”, which is on view at the Harvard Museum of Art in Boston. Fragonard painted several depictions of women running from men in the 1700’s. There is Fragonard's “Return of the Drove” of a similar/ if slightly darker theme of pursuit in the Worcester art museum also referenced in Autonomy 2026.
A parallel to Maria’s life, she is trapped in a world created by a man but this story takes an alternate turn. In Flight changes the Fragonard amorous scene to instead show Maria’s scientific pursuit for insects and butterflies to capture and paint. The insects in the painting are painted copies of Maria’s drawings which are still celebrated today. In Flight, also loosely references Maria’s actual flight from her husband- scandalously breaking from the norms of her time, Maria divorced her husband (presumably because she wanted to pursue her career at a time when domestic servitude was primarily expected from wives/mothers.) Instead of a man chasing her in the left corner, her daughter tags along innocently in the distance. The painting jokingly exaggerates the wild balancing acts women struggle with even today -to juggle careers, unreasonable beauty expectations, and motherhood all at once.
In an increasingly oppressive world, we can find guidance and hope in the stories of women who succeeded against all odds.
BIO
Hilary Doyle is an artist, teacher, and curator from Worcester, MA. Her work includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. Doyle recently exhibited at venues such as Taymour Grahne, Hesse Flatow, Public Swim, and Monya Rowe Gallery, and Gallery Func in Shanghai, China. Recent solo shows include Probably a Goddess opening May 2023 at Dinner Gallery in NYC and On The Way to the Garden at Taymour Grahne in London in 2022. Doyle has upcoming group shows with Contemporary Art Matters in Ohio and Gallery LJ in Paris. She has received press coverage in Hyperallergic, Bushwick Daily, and New American Paintings Blog.
Doyle teaches at Holy Cross College and taught for years at Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University and Purchase College. She co-founded and teaches for the NYC Crit Club. She was recently gallery co-director at Transmitter Gallery and curates shows independently. Doyle received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Currently, she lives and works in Worcester, MA.