MES student and artist, Sabrina Rose Capista showcased her research-creation project, Let Us Rot in EUC’s 31st Eco Arts Festival from March 17-28, 2025 as part of Andil Gosine’s Nature’s Wild exhibition series.

Over the course of her time in the MES program, Sabrina has been studying mycology, death and rebirth in spiritual traditions, and eco-arts. As a society we are very uncomfortable, repulsed by and scared of all matters of rot and decay, despite its inevitability in the shadow of all life. In the rejection of this process, in clinging to the physical, material world, we are deluded by the false promise of permanence that disconnects us from the “natural world” and distorts our priorities. Death, nor life can exist without the transitional state of rotting, yet many of us have removed ourselves from this truth. 

Let Us Rot is a body of work which uses mixed media visual arts to examine rot, decomposition, and death as a vital component to the life of human and non-human species alike. This collection uses found organic materials in combination with other mediums to investigate what it might mean to commune with other-than-human life as an art practice. Through the overarching lens of spiritual ecology, Sabrina combines various frameworks such as deep ecology, queer death studies, and Shawn Wilson’s concept of “research as ceremony” to build her creative world. Her methodology relies heavily on the process of crafting as the research itself, allowing the physical experience of making and the relationships built with her materials to reveal meaning. 

This project began as a response to her engagement with the works of Gosine, particularly his book Nature’s Wild which explores the human/animal divide. Through reading this book Sabrina was inspired to further reflect on her own wildness and investigate her existence as animal through the transitional lens of decay.

The central piece of this exhibit, entitled The Bardo, consists of a textile compost heap containing memorabilia of an ended relationship, surrounded by death eating species such as saprophytic fungi, plants, scavengers, and detritivores. This piece is meant to represent the transitional process of decomposition that is required before a rebirth can take place after a big loss. This collection of death eaters in relation to the compost heap creates a microcosmic ecosystem within the gallery space to reveal the interconnectivity of species, the essentialness of rot, and the death that continually sustains life all around us.

Inspired by themes of humanism and animality tackled in Nature’s Wild, this piece works to further blur the lines between the two, displaying a moment of crossover where human and animal come together. The surrounding textile artworks tackle themes of impermanence that exist in our everyday relationships with people, the planet, and all we interact with. With this project Sabrina forms relationships with her material in an effort to de-center humans from death and promote a deeper acceptance and connection to Earth’s natural cycles.

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Sabrina Rose Capista is a Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) student at EUC focusing on mycology, spiritual ecology & community earth repair. She is a creative design professional and artist, with experience in community building and wellness event organizing, focusing on the themes of self-healing and connection to nature.

Let Us Rot is a research-creation project supported by Andil Gosine’s Nature’s Wild project that uses mixed media visual arts to explore rot, decomposition, and death as a vital component to the life of human and non-human species alike. The collection of works uses found organic materials in combination with other mediums to investigate what it might mean to commune with other-than-human life as a spiritual art practice. Through the relationship formed between artist and material, Sabrina works to de-centre humans from death and promote a deeper acceptance and connection to Earth’s natural cycles.