Chad Amos Self presents:

Mapping Memory: Shapes of New England

My work in this exhibition is an exploration of memory, place, and perception through the abstracted forms and shifting atmospheres of New England. Rather than capturing literal landscapes, I seek to evoke the emotional and sensory experiences tied to the places I have walked, lived, and carried with me over time.

Some of the paintings were created en plein air, directly engaging with the landscape’s immediacy and changing light, while others were developed in the studio, where memory and reflection shape the composition and mood.

Each painting is an attempt to map the internal geography of memory, the way light, color, and shape linger in the mind long after a place has been left behind. The “shapes” in these works are less about physical landmarks and more about the impressions those places imprint on our consciousness.

Using the language of abstract impressionism, I aim to create a dialogue between the familiar and the elusive, inviting viewers to connect with the rhythms and textures of New England through a personal lens. This series is a meditation on how place shapes identity and how memory can transform the landscapes we think we know into something new, intimate, and alive.

Rhode Island native Chad Amos Self creates art that deeply engages with memory, nostalgia, and the expressive possibilities of painting. Drawing from his love of imagination, Self explores the textures of remembrance and the passage of time through abstract and tactile forms. His work reflects on personal history, family stories, local geography, and community, transforming nostalgia into layered compositions that evoke both place and emotion. By weaving together materiality and memory, Self’s art becomes a meditation on how the past shapes identity and how painting can serve as a vessel for remembering and imagining.

He has shown work at Hera Gallery, Hoxie Gallery, One Way Gallery, the University of Rhode Island, Studio Blue, Carlotti Administration Building, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Artist’s Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, Goddard College, The Eliot D. Pratt Library, Imago Gallery, the Jamestown Art Center, and many other New England spaces. Self is a proud member of the historical Hera Gallery, where he also sits on the executive board.

Self graduated cum laude from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and received his Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College. He currently teaches studio art at the University of Rhode Island and Anna Maria College.