Natural Journey
An encounter between Arts and Science
by Josefina Hepp, Vivian Lavin, María José Arce
“Natural Journey” aims to remove the old-fashioned tension between art and science in order to approach nature’s shapes and colors with astonishment and without being distracted from the main task: to learn from it and listen to its call in the midst of the climate crisis. Botanical illustration is the art that allows us to enter the world of plants through our senses. But it is also a scientific record that provides botanists and scholars with subtle and precise representations that no technological device can reproduce. A botanist, an illustrator and a journalist are touched by the journey led by other women who inspired them with their environmental sensitivity and awareness. When reading “Natural Journey”, you will be taken into a pleasant walk through six types of plants whose names take after their identifying characteristics. “Travelers”, some inspire and others move (without legs or wings), “dangerous”, even lethal, colors and characteristics that define them, “deceitful”, traps and camouflages to get what they want, “rebels”, those who dodge the rules, undisciplined, stubborn and defiant, and “hungry” from the Plant to the Animal Kingdom, nutrient-capture strategies, “flamboyant”, as emerged from delirium. The book also contains each plant’s data sheet and mapping.