A large part of Boston is built on filled land, and I’ve always been fascinated by how much its shoreline has changed over time. This map from the Leventhal Map Center traces Boston’s shoreline from 1630 to 1995, showing how water was slowly pushed back to make room for the city. I decided to start with the earliest recorded shoreline in 1630, which is also the year that marks the “establishment” of Boston. Because maps about landfilling often focus on Downtown and Back Bay, I chose to go somewhere that is usually left out of the frame: Fenway and Roxbury. I visited the ends of the old streams, looking for traces of water, whether physical, emotional, or metaphorical.​​

​

I named the project 396 years later: finding water before it finds us again because I am searching for where water used to be, while knowing it will return. Flooding is becoming more frequent and will only get more severe. Water always follows certain paths. Even when we cover, block, or reroute it, water remembers. In the future, it will move back toward the spaces that once belonged to it.

​

All recordings were made in January 2026. Winter drastically changes how water is present, where it hides, and how visible its absence becomes.