By appreciating diversity in the natural world, we might learn to do the same in our human interactions. I truly believe that wildlife and nature have a way of teaching us kindness and bringing out the best in us, encouraging us to explore and embrace the colorful world we share. – Isabelle Du Toit
Isabelle du Toit b. 1972 – Deeply involved in wildlife conservation, Isabelle du Toit explores a narrative based on our manmade world of today and how it has affected the stability of an ecosystem that existed long before it. Her finely detailed oil paintings of birds, insects, and mammals found on stark, deep backgrounds that enhance the isolation and the loneliness of these creatures. The ever-present spotlight on her subjects both illuminates the beauty of every feather and hair’s detail, yet simultaneously alludes to an impending sense of encroachment.

Isabelle du Toit was born in Strasbourg, France and moved to South Africa with her family as a teenager. There, she received a Bachelor of Fine Art in Printmaking from Nelson Mandela University. She moved to Texas in the mid-1990s where she lived and worked for over 10 years and now resides with her husband on the coast in South Florida. In 2016 and 2020 the artist was a finalist in the BP Portrait Competition. Du Toit’s work has exhibited nationally in Texas, California, Chicago, New York, Colorado, Seattle, and Florida, among others. Internationally, her work has been shown in London and Panama City, Panama.