Isabela Verhagen is a textile artist and anthropologist whose work explores lived experiences of climate change and our often absent relationship with the natural world. Through large-scale textile installations, she weaves together images from recent news events, personal and collective stories, and research driven material choices. Her practice sits at the intersection of craft, ecology, and social imagination, using the language of textiles to ask how people notice, ignore, or adapt to environmental change.

Isabela sees her art as a contribution to climate justice and a call to stay alert and engaged. Textiles function as her preferred medium for storytelling: soft, bodily materials that carry memory, labour, and intimacy. Sewing, knitting, and weaving form the foundation of her approach, chosen for their tactility and for the possibility of transforming raw fibres into finished works without heavy machinery.

In recent years, Verhagen has deepened her attention to the origins and impacts of the materials she works with, guided by the belief that environmental awareness must begin within oneʼs own methods. She deliberately embraces time-intensive processes as a form of resistance to fast paced, extractive industries. Her material research ranges from cultivating and processing flax into linen, to spinning wool from local Dutch sheep, to experimenting with natural dyes using indigo, avocado peels, and onion skins.

A recurring technique in her work is IKAT Indonesian) and its Japanese counterpart, Kurume Kasuri, visible in projects including Dweilen met de Kraan Open and Natureʼs Revenge – Part One. Patience, attention, and care remain central to her practice, and she often shares the processes behind each piece as part of the workʼs meaning on her social media.