Resist Fascism
Hidden in Plain Sight Series
2024
This piece uses the international maritime signal flag system to encode the phrase “resist fascism” into a visual language that is both highly visible and often unread.
I made this while living in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where military presence is part of the background noise—boats moving through the water daily behind my house, TAPS on bugle heard playing from a nearby base in the evenings, and jet noise so common that it’s the punchline of popular bumper stickers in the area. Virginia Beach leans conservative, and my views didn’t always fit neatly into that environment. That disconnect sits underneath the work.
“Resist Fascism” sits at the intersection of communication and restraint. It asks what it means to speak clearly in spaces where direct language can be dismissed, misunderstood, or ignored. By translating a politically charged statement into a standardized system of flags, the piece removes tone while preserving intent.
This piece is meant to exist in spaces where direct language might be dismissed or unsafe to express openly. It doesn’t demand attention. It blends in, something most people will walk past without questioning. But the message is still there, unchanged, waiting to be recognized by the right eyes. It’s a way of holding onto expression without having to make it obvious.
Nothing about the message is hidden.
Most people just don’t know how to read it.
Context
Resist Fascism is part of Hidden in Plain Sight, a series that uses maritime signal flags to present direct messages in a format most people don’t question at a glance.
Process
Digital watercolor illustration created using licensed photographic reference imagery.
Developed on iPad using Procreate, studying how fabric behaves in wind and how color shifts across folds.
Collect This Piece
If you want to live with this piece, it’s available as a physical print, something you can actually hang, not just scroll past.
These are the messages that don’t need to be shouted to be understood.
“Resist Fascism,” spelled in maritime signal flags, clear if you know the code, invisible if you don’t. A quiet kind of defiance. The kind that doesn’t ask for permission.
This design was one of my best-selling pieces at in-person markets—something people stopped for, read twice, and decided they needed on their wall.
Printed as part of my market-era collection, this 8x10 piece reflects a phase where my work lived in public spaces— tables, conversations, eye contact. I’m stepping away from that format, which means this batch is being released online as a limited run.
Same message. Same weight. Different chapter.
Once these are gone, this version won’t be restocked.
Features:
Includes Nautical Alphabet Key — Comes with a reference chart so you can decode the message and share it with others
8x10 Ready-to-Frame Print — Standard sizing for easy framing or display right out of the package
Part of the Nautical Signal Print series — collect multiple