Title of Talk: #Califloragami. Intersections of Art, Math and California Native Plants
January 11, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Watch the recording of the presentation here.
Summary
During the pandemic, Esme Cabrera turned to her life-long pastime of origami to puzzle out new folding sequences resulting 
in representations of California native plants. Having just moved to Sacramento and not getting out as much as she was used to in the Bay Area, origami became a way to keep the hands busy and re-connect to the hikes and plant communities she was missing. Sharing these on social media has led to new native plant community connections, new design inspiration and opportunities, and first place in the 2022 CNPS art and photo contest for her Toloache, Datura wrightii mixed media piece! Esme will be sharing details about origami as a practice; how she connects her California naturalist, volunteer and gardening experience to origami; and all original origami California native plant models created in 2022.
Speaker Bios
Esme Cabrera is a Bay Area (ancestral lands of the modern day Ohlone) born and raised crafter, community and environmental advocate. She has volunteered and worked with many California native plant restoration organizations in the past, but it wasn’t until she took the UCANR California Naturalist course that brought home just how important and central California’s native plants are to her own personal identity, well-being and continued community advocacy. As a volunteer with Latino Outdoors, Esme relishes the opportunity to connect the Latinx community with native plants or learn how they are doing so already. As a new home gardener, Esme is experiencing all the ups and downs of learning but also the opportunity to closely observe, interact and grow alongside our native plant kin. She hopes to be able to ‘fold’ all of these experiences into her California native creative visual work.
Photos courtesy of Esme Cabrera. Flowers clockwise from left: Calystegia soldanella, Datura wrightii, Datura wrightii unfurling, Calystegia purpurata, Calochortus leichtlinii, Eschscholzia californica and E.lobbii, Brodieae elegans, Calochortus luteus
