Cristian Molina, Class of 2023

Origami Experience:

Cristian Molina is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Gender and Sexuality Studies and Biology. Cristian’s engagement with origami this academic year has revived what was a childhood pastime for him. His current thesis work in ecology has been interested in monarch butterfly migration behavior, which allowed him to enter the world of lepidopterology this past summer. The pieces he is presenting at the 2023 UChicagOrigami Winter Showcase aim to display the biodiversity within moths and butterflies, demonstrating both color and morphological variation. As the process of folding these pieces is highly repetitive, with some slight changes in the folding pattern, his work is also invested in origami as a meditative process.

Models:

Emiko Fritillary, A Butterfly for Alice Gray, and Origamido Butterfly
6 in. kami
designed by Michael G. LaFosse

Heliconius Butterfly
6 in. tant
designed by Ronik Bhaskar

Alexander Aztec Swallowtail, The Nolan, and Alexander Swallowtail
6 in. duo color standard
designed by Michael G. LaFosse

LaFosse’s Dollar Bill Butterfly
6.14 in. x 2.61 in. US dollar bill
designed by Michael G. LaFosse

Nabokov Butterfly
3 in. x 5 in. index card
designed by Ronik Bhaskar