Amba Smith

 Tree of life – Tree of Worth

Art is representation, Art is me. Inspired by historical, cultural, mythical and spiritual ideas of the tree of life story, I have created my own interpretation, and designed the Tree of Worth.

With major influences from the film and TV industry including the character Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-03) and the character Groot from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), I have combined my two specialist subjects of SFX and Fashion and Textiles to create my final body of work.  

My project consists of layers of personal symbolic meanings from the theme and colour palette throughout the whole design that reflects the hidden meanings of colours I have chosen to convey how I have experienced them during different stages of my life. I love how my art can become an expression of storytelling about the journey of self-acceptance and growth, like the branches of a tree, knowing we grow stronger every day with each new experience.  

With each piece I have designed and created I have thought carefully and consciously about what each element represents or reflects. Here I have created a humanoid tree-like character sculpted in clay with an exposed heart within the tree trunk to represent life. The head of the creature is dressed in a gold-encrusted woodland-themed crown, created using embroidery, foiling, and water-based print techniques, which represent worth and wisdom, all displayed within a handmade display case.

I chose to expand my knowledge and continue on the SFX pathway as I love to create characters and designs which express how I’m feeling when I can’t find the right words. I love seeing the process of how I can use my imagination and see the process of that character come to life and have a physical form at the end