Mapping Memory

Blair Newsome (’26)

OCTOBER 28 — DECEMBER 13

stArt.dt, Wake Downtown

Growing up in a family of long-distance runners and visual artists, I have always felt a deep connection between movement, endurance, and observation. My paintings reflect the relationship between these experiences, capturing the essence of places as living memories—constantly shifting yet deeply rooted in who we are.

My practice encompasses portraiture, significant landscapes, and glimpses of interior spaces within my familial home. Each aspect offers a different perspective on mapping memory. The family portraits provide an intimate exploration of the individuals within these landscapes, revealing the emotional terrain that connects us to place. In contrast, my paintings of interior spaces within my family’s home evoke an intimate sense of location, capturing the personal environments we inhabit. Additionally, some pieces incorporate cut-out sections of wood shaped into forms that echo meaningful locations. These cut-outs are rearranged to create new, composite shapes, blending familiar and reimagined spaces into a unified visual narrative. They serve as metaphors for the complex layers of experience, where boundaries between space and memory shift and intertwine.

My work delves into the intricate relationship between memory, place, and the shared connections that bind my family. In this series, I map landscapes imprinted in my family’s collective memory—places we have lived, ran through, and experienced together. Each painting traces a journey through these significant locations, exploring a personal history and family narrative.

I avoid relying solely on photographs. Instead, my process combines memory, family stories, and imagination. Much like gaps in memory, the pieces reflect how my family and I experience and recall places over time. Some areas of my paintings blur or fade, visually translating what it feels like when memories soften at the edges. This fluidity mirrors the nature of memory itself—sometimes vivid and clear, other times fragmented and elusive.

Through both figurative and abstract representations, I investigate how place shapes identity and how navigating both physical and emotional distances requires endurance. My work also considers the process of seeing the familiar from a new perspective. Each painting—whether a portrait or depiction of a location—serves as an act of remembrance, a visual meditation on how places hold the weight of history and shared experiences, both for myself and for those who journey through these spaces with me.