Legible Earth: The Fire Tapestries

Legible Earth is an ongoing project that investigates the inscriptions left by climate change. Legible Earth: The Fire Tapestries marks the tenth anniversary of the Valley Fire, utilizing wildfire char collected from Raintree’s sister who lost her home in 2015 and reflects upon the acceleration of wildfires over the subsequent decade. Borrowing from the language of ancient tapestries that survive as storytellers, intricate line drawings are interwoven with washes of wildfire char, while textile works incorporate wildfire char throughout the weft and weave. These intimate explorations address the global impacts of wildfire on ecological and human communities, alongside the process of bearing witness, renewal, and repair.