Colorful textile banners displaying botanical art and portraits hanging in rows between poles at Chicago Botanic Garden, surrounded by lush green trees. — Rhizomatic: Textile Art Installation (2024)
Chicago Botanic Garden
Nature-inspired textile banners weave through the landscape, creating a living dialogue between art and nature. Site-specific works showcase diverse botanical inspirations that echo the garden's seasonal transformations.

Essentials Creative

We are a multimedia collective transforming ancestral knowledge into contemporary visual narratives. Based in Austin, our team of BIPOC, women, and LGBTQIA+ creatives builds bridges between cultural memory and artistic innovation—honoring the past while boldly reimagining what's possible.

Currently creating RHIZOMATIC at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Coming Fall 2025: Rhizomatic Installation @ Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

RHIZOMATIC

An immersive installation of 30 tapestries reimagining 10 native Texas plants through Indigenous and immigrant artistic vision. Each double-sided piece weaves botanical research with contemporary folklore, creating new stories about belonging, resilience, and our relationship to the land.

Like underground root systems that connect and sustain, this multimedia experience explores how Indigenous American, Latin American, and Asian artists are cultivating fresh narratives about place and cultural identity in Texas landscapes.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center | September - December 2025

Love Letter to Austin

Public Art Initiative Supporting Reproductive Rights Vibrant murals by artists Jasmine Zelaya and SM Sanz celebrate feminine strength and diversity. Curated in partnership with Women on Web, Plan C, and Repro Uncensored as part of a community initiative supporting reproductive autonomy.

Vibrant mural by Jasmine Zelaya showing three diverse women with floral embellishments against a blue background with white daisy patterns, part of the 'Love Letter to Austin' initiative.

STAY WILD

Austin Studio Tour Exhibition Featuring Nature-Inspired Art & Light Installations

Immersive studio environment where walls bathed in vibrant blue-green light transform industrial architecture into living ecosystems. Projected botanical imagery creates interactive experiences where visitors become part of the artwork. Handcrafted textile works centered around moth and butterfly motifs bridge the technological and natural worlds.

Gallery wall installation featuring colorful textile artworks arranged symmetrically on patterned wallpaper with small geometric symbols, centered around a projected moth and butterfly image.

Studio art installation with walls washed in vibrant colored light - deep blue and green hues creating an immersive spatial experience with minimalist industrial architecture

Immersive digital art installation with colorful projected imagery featuring botanical elements and symbolic patterns, with silhouettes of visitors interacting with the vibrant wall projections.

Native Waters

Celebrating Texas Biodiversity Through Video Art Large-scale outdoor projections illuminate Austin's waterways with vibrant visuals of native flora and fauna, creating a dialogue between urban development and natural ecosystems.

Nighttime outdoor video art installation displaying Texas native flora on large projection screen over water, with Austin skyline illuminated in background, creating colorful reflections on the water's surface.

Afterworld

Immersive Installation Blending Cultural Traditions A three-screen video installation exploring the intersection of Day of the Dead and Obon Festival traditions through surreal digital imagery, symbolic motifs, and contemplative spaces.

Three-screen video installation in darkened gallery space showing abstract imagery in vibrant colors - green and red on left, black and white figure in center, and purple tones on right, with red light outline on floor defining viewing area.

Triptych of surreal digital collages featuring psychedelic imagery, symbolic motifs and eye symbols. Bold patterns with vibrant blues, pinks and purples, framed with decorative borders containing mystical iconography.

Triptych of surreal digital art with symbolic themes - left panel shows dancer in orange and swirling smoke, center features Day of the Dead skeleton motifs in red tones, right presents portrait of woman in pink light surrounded by floral elements.

Yanaguana Garden

Indigenous Art Installation at San Antonio's Luminaria Festival Illuminated textile installations featuring spirit animals and the phrase "LAND OF THE SPIRIT WATERS" create a sacred pathway honoring the Indigenous history of the region.

Colorful textile banners with Indigenous-inspired designs hanging outdoors among trees - featuring a blue panther on yellow, 'LAND OF THE SPIRIT WAVES' text panel, and bird imagery with geometric border decorations and colorful ribbons.

Colorful digital artwork of a stylized bird with a sunburst chest above yellow and red prickly pear cactus pads, framed by vibrant geometric patterns.

Our Services

Photography: Evocative visual storytelling for portraits, events, products, and artistic documentation
Video Production: Comprehensive creation from concept development through final editing
Graphic Design: Strategic visual communications and brand identity development
Installation Art: Interactive, site-specific experiences that transform physical spaces

Our Commitment

Amplifying BIPOC, women, and LGBTQIA+ creative voices
Blending ancestral knowledge with experimental techniques
Creating inclusive, boundary-challenging art experiences
Fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and exchange

Essentials Creative: Weaving diverse perspectives into immersive art experiences

#MultimediaArt #AustinArt #BIPOC #InstallationArt #IndigenousArt #ImmersiveExperiences