Virginia Wagner

FINDING MERIAN : GRAPHIC NOVEL

FINDING MERIAN is a graphic novel about 17th-century German entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian. It explores Merian’s life as well as my own story following in her footsteps with my father, entomologist Dr. David Wagner. The book, which I am writing and illustrating, is currently in development.

Maria Sibylla Merian made groundbreaking contributions to metamorphosis studies at a time when most believed insects arose spontaneously from mud. Her dual expertise as a fine artist and naturalist positioned her to transform both fields. Through her extraordinary powers of observation and rendering, she brought taxonomic and life-cycle studies to a wider public and elevated the status of biological illustration. In 1699, she and her daughter undertook a first-of-its-kind expedition to Suriname to document South American insects. Merian forged an unprecedented career at a time when it was almost impossible for a women to be recognized in either the arts or the sciences. Her life story illuminates themes of gender, colonial legacy, Western vs indigenous knowledge systems, and ecological balance.

Awards for this project have included a Garmany Foundation Grant, which supported research and travel to Suriname in 2023 as well as a 2024 STEAMplant grant through Pratt institute, which supported a second trip to Suriname and the initial stages of book development. A 2026 SUNY Purchase Faculty Development Award supported travel to Merian’s archives in the British Museum, the Royal Collection in Windsor Castle, and museums and collections across Amsterdam.

This project began as a series of paintings which were exhibited at Catharine Clark Gallery (San Francisco) in 2020 and in Flora Fantastic at apexart (NYC) in 2022, curated by Tashima Thomas and Corina Apostol.

For inquiries regarding publication, representation, or press, please contact: virginiaRwagner at gmail dot com