Silkscreen prints on paper, 12 x 12 inches each, grid of 25, 2020-22. Collaborators: David Buckley Borden, and Helen Popinchalk

All communication systems can breakdown in times of unprecedented stress and disturbance. Still, even broken systems can provide insights for survival and prosperity.

Building off traditional “hobo” pictographs, the Environmental Wayfinding System (EWS) print series is a reimagined folk communication system that serves as a graphic survival-code for people navigating environmental collapse. Some symbols communicate opportunities for potable water, free charging stations, clean campsites, dry firewood, and welcoming “safe” communities. Conversely, other symbols warn of environmental threats and misfortunes including NIMBY-arson wildfires, barren farmland, superfund sites, chemical plumes, exclusion zones, and pandemic hot-spots.