De Tunnel / Nature's Revenge –

Nature’s Revenge is a textile installation in which the consequences of climate change are imagined not as abstract statistics, but as nature's direct retaliation.

The concept draws on ancient narratives that attributed natural disasters to vengeful gods. Such stories offered not only explanations, but also served as a moral compass to appease the deities and thus avert catastrophe. By depicting and interconnecting various signals from the ecosystem, the installation foregrounds nature's own voice.

It begins with a felled tree. The viewer follows the tree roots, which communicate with the rest of nature through their symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi. From the roots, one is led to a monoculture where the scent of freshly mown grass—an alarm signal emitted by nature—wells up and flows into the next canvas. These warning signals then materialize into a hyper-local downpour, drenching a figure carrying another on their back through the rushing water.

Isabela Verhagen is a textile artist and anthropologist. Her work explores lived experiences of climate change and our relationship with the natural world. In her textile installations, she weaves together imagery from recent news events, personal and collective narratives, and research-driven material choices. Situated at the intersection of craft, ecology, and social imagination, her practice uses the language of textiles to ask how people notice, ignore, or adapt to environmental breakdown.