Technically, I was born in Mehuen, Massachuseets. But I don’t remember that house other than a photograph my mom showed me of my brother and I swimming in a pool as babies. She told me that we moved from that house when I was two to go live in Woodstcok, CT. That’s where I remember growing up as a kid so I just tell people that’s where I was born.



East Greenwich Landmark

This is one of the apartment complexes where my dad lived when I was in highschool

It was an old fire station or something that they renovated into these really nice looking loftstyle apartments. It doesn’t look like much on the outside but it was actually really beautiful on the inside. I remember thinking I wished that I could have a loft like that someday

After a while my dad moved to a different apartment complex with a friend of his

Eventually his friend moved out and I had a room here with a couple things during my year off from school.

Honestly I pretty much just came here to crash once or twice a week when I really needed to. I went out out a lot back then and didnt usually stay over either of my parent’s places.

Behind these trees is a nice little pull off that is usually pretty empty. It’s right next to a river and there’s a lower portion that has a waterfall and some trails too.

I’ve lived in Norwich on and off since I was in highschool. One of the times I came back was in March of 2020 when college went online. I would do my classes from here sometimes so that I could be alone.

Anytime I wasn’t working I would come here and just smoke in my car watching videos for hours. Then when it got dark my dad would text me and tell me that it was time to come home.

The house in Norwich used to be my step-mother’s house. When my dad lived in the apartments we would go back and forth and stay here sometimes. It was my junior year of highschool when I first really lived in Norwich. My mom and I had gotten into another fight and this one was really bad. So my dad drove up to Rhode Island and we moved my stuff out. He worked near my school in Rhode Island and we would commute together every day since I didn’t have a car yet. For a while I was waking up around five AM so my dad could bring me to school in Rhode Island from CT.

Honesty, even though I’ve lived here on and off for years it always felt like it wasn’t really my home. My dad, my step-brother my step-mom and I lived here together for a while but I always thought about how my step-broher and his sisters grew up with so many memories here. My step-brother has lived here his whole life and is actually about to buy it and put it in him and his girlfrien’s names.

My dad and Tracy moved into a new house that my dad built during the summer after my online classes and my brother moved in so it was me, my brother, my step-brother, and his girlfriend living here for a couple months. That was pretty fun because we’re all about the same age so we would all hangout sometimes.

I don’t think this house ever could have been called mine though. When I lived here, the room I stayed in was always called “Nikki’s room” even when I had all of my decorations up. And when I stayed there during online classes I was in “Zach’s old room”.

I have pretty conflicting feelings about this house overall. But I do miss sneaking out to smoke with my step-brother and his girlfriend in the car after our parents went to bed.



“The Sky is prettier in Narragansett.”



I even wrote a poem about it once.

It’s funny how this place still holds so much meaning for me. But it wasn’t always like that.

My room

When I first started living here, it was rgiht before I went to college. I took a year off so I had some time to live here. But back then I was never really home much anyways. When I left to go to school in Boston, I never really considered this place home. It was just the house where I kept my summer clothes and other stuff I didn’t need during the school year.

When I would come back for the holidays, it was pretty lonely. I didn’t know anyone in Narragansett. So, I spent most of my time smoking cigarettes on the porch and looking out at the water. I loved that deck so much. My mom would get mad at me sometimes because I would spend all day out there. Even when it got cold and snowy, I would bring out my blankets and look out from my perch for hours.

It was nice in a melancholy way. You know? It was just me, alone, for hours. I told myself I liked it that way. But sometimes I wished that I had friends closeby to share it with.

Narragansett is a tourist town so during the summer it’s full of life and during the winter it becomes a ghost town. The next summer, I came back to stay with my mom and I got a new job at a local pizza place.

It paid well and I got paid to drive which if you could’nt tell by now I drive a lot.

The starngest part is that somehow there are always fresh flowers on the tables. And I mean always.

Driving through the town everyday, I got to find some interesting spots. We take a lot of deliveries on this one road off the main street. I’ve always wanted to stop and take pictures of this cool little nook hiding in the trees. You have to look close when you drive by to see that there are a few sets of tables and chairs hiding in there.

But I’ve never seen anyone over there. I always wonder who the person that decorates it with flowers every week could be.

I’ve never seen anybody sitting at them though. I’ve been driving by this spot every week for three years and I still check every time to see if anyone is sitting there.

There’s lots of cool, weird things like that in Narragansett. I really love finding hidden gems like this and I take a lot of pride in knowing the area so well now.

When it was time to go back to school, I found out my we were moving again. My mom had been renting this home for 3 years since 2016. But the landlords wanted to rent it out to tourists in the summer for more money.

I was absolutely devastated because this wasn’t just the place where I’d store my summer clothes anymore. After two years, I’d finally dared to connect with this home, the area, and the people who lived here.

My parents thought I was crazy for a while but I still come back every week to work at that pizza place. My best friend from highschool went to college around there and she ended up working there too.

After work, we go over to the bar next door where the bartender tells us about her day while she makes our usual drinks. We hug the locals and I play pool with them while making jokes about actually winning this time.

I drive an hour and a half South from Boston to come here every week even though my mom hasn’t lived here for years. Every once in a while I drive past the old house when I’m delivery driving. But it’s not that sad anymore to look at the house and realize I can’t go up to smoke on the porch.

When I drive by it now, I smile and it feels like I’m looking at an old friend.

I did really like it here though. I lived on the third floor and my room had a pretty nice view for the city. It’s weird to think about how so many people say moving into their college dorms is the first time they’ve lived away from home. I don’t even know where that is anymore.

I think my favorite thing about it was hearing the train go by in the morning. I know most people would hate that but I thought it was nice to wake up and hear the world moving along

My sophomore year I lived in the 1025 dorms on the first floor.

My best friend lived on the second floor right above the door. I had the biggest room in the whole dorm and I shared it with one other person.

I miss this dorm a little. It was so beautiful and I remember leaving was so hard because I became really attached to that room.

I’m glad I left when I did though. I was so severely depressed when I lived here before i really dealt with my trauma.

This was my first apartment. Me and a couple friends found this so last second because we couldn’t live in the dorms anymore but it was a really good price for being pretty close to the school. It was super tiny for 4 girls to fit into but we made it work.

Technically there was no living room but we ended up fitting a couple chairs and a couch into the corner of the kitchen. It was pretty wonky though having to mve the chairs around if someone was cooking. Honestly, it was kind of a shit hole but it was our shit hole.

The girls and I lived here on the 2nd floor for two years. But i feel like so much happened during those two years.

We started our artist collective pretty sooon after moving in and hosted three shows in our tiny apartment during that time. How we fit all those people into 900 square feet I couldn’t tell you but somehow they all worked out and our landlords didn’t kick us out.

While I have so many fond memories of this house, it wasn’t ever going to be long term. There were a lot of issues with the apartment and eventually we decided that we wanted to upgrade.

When they girls told me that they wanted to move, I was so incredibly against it. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I hate moving even though I’ve gotten to be pretty good at it. Eventually we went to go look at an apartment and found something we just couldn’t pass up.

This is the first time I’ve moved where I haven’t felt much greive over leaving. I did love our first apartment but this time is different for some reason. I think it’s because this is the first time I’ve actually chosen to move. We weren’t forced to leave; we weren’t kicked out. I didn’t have to go along with anyone; I didn’t leave because of conflict. I just wanted to move. I actually wanted to move here

and I’m happy I did.

Melodie Newman (1998) Campaign: /by Melodie Newman Boston, MA, House of Praxis (2022) Subjects: 1. Artist’s Books 2. Photography, Artistic 3. Conceptual art 4. Moving 5. Home Memories of Home is about the feelings of loss and greif that accompany people who have moved often, especially for children or people who are forced to move. This book explores the sense of longing for places of the past and also grapples with how to move forward. The book follows the authors’ moves through childhood into adulthood as well as nostalgic places in the immediate are of those homes. With housing becoming more and more unaffordable for middle class families and young adults, this book touches upon what those psychological effects can look like. The book aims to show the emotional struggles that come along with moving often and make the housing crisis more personal. Melodie Newman is a conceptual artist living and working in Boston, MA and is co-founder of the artist collective, House of Praxis. Her work is inspired by other artists like DoHo Suh and Laia Abril. First Edition, 2022 First Printing: 20 Copies Concept and design by Melodie Newman Photo credits: Google Maps, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Realtor.com, Apartments.com The text is Reenie Beanie by James Grieshaber Print on demand publication

Purchase from the artist: [email protected] Boston, MA, Huse of praxis 2022