Future/Nature
Curated by Romy Cohen
Artists: Beca Acosta, Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes, Lucas Bourgine, Jack Catlett, Matthias Garff, Ingela Ihrmans, Natalie Colette Wood
January 30 - February 6, 2026
MA Curatorial Practice presents “Future/Nature,” an exhibition curated by MA Curatorial Practice student Romy Cohen. “Future/Nature” is a group exhibition that explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, arguing that the belief in human dominance over nature is a destructive myth. The project contends that humans and nonhuman systems are deeply entangled biologically, ethically, technologically, and culturally. Recognizing this entanglement is not only conceptually necessary but politically and ecologically urgent.
Human entanglement with the natural world is exemplified throughout the show. Beca Acosta uses photography to examine how human behavior has affected biology on a microscopic level, rendering us intimately embedded within each other. Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes imagines a speculative future through an immersive digital environment populated with hybrid animated plants and lifeforms that draw upon real species. Lucas Bourgine visualizes the entanglement of humans and the natural world by blending familiar landscapes with surreal or speculative elements to provoke reflection on perceptual systems. Jack Catlett explores our relationship with the natural universe through the lens of a parallel reality characterized by a specific capitalist controller. Matthias Garff highlights how human activity and non-human life are inseparable in shared habitats by creating sculptures made from human detritus. Ingela Ihrmans uses performance to examine humans’ relationships with other species, inviting viewers to see themselves through the perspective of other life forms. Natalie Cole Wood’s sculptures connect biological drives shared across species, dissolving the false distinctions between humans and other species.
“Future/Nature” aims to challenge entrenched ideas of human exceptionalism by foregrounding the profound entanglement between human and nonhuman systems. Through diverse artistic approaches, the exhibition encourages viewers to reconsider their position within ecological, technological, and cultural networks, emphasizing that interconnectedness is essential to imagining more ethical, sustainable futures.
