In an increasingly oppressive world, I find guidance and hope in the stories of women who succeeded against all odds. My most recent paintings and collages explore the incredible life of the artist, scientist, and mother: Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717).
I create handmade acrylic paint using Guerra liquid pigment and acrylic to make my paintings and collages. I also sometimes integrate conceptual materials such as baby food, or kids’ art materials to embody the creativity, messiness and invisibility of being an artist mother.
Maria Sibylla Merian was a genius: she was one of the first entomologists and one of the first people to study and document butterfly metamorphosis from life 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 (a toddler and older child), studying and painting about, an artist mother of two from 3 centuries past, I wonder about challenges working mothers faced then and still face today. Sometimes I paint Maria in imagined scenarios filling in the blanks, while other paintings depict legends passed down about her. To give an example, “Maria Sibylla Merian: "Observing Metamorphosis”, represents a story about 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 painting 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. Maria wrote in her personal study book about hunting insects while dressed “magnificently,” laughing at the wildness of her action. Instead of a man chasing her in the painting and extravagant dress, possibly her daughter follows in her footsteps - later becoming an accomplished artist and mother herself.
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.