Kristen Schultz - Evergreen

BA Jewellery runner up Kristen Schultz outlines the hope she has for the future

For this project I considered the environment and the fact that things currently look quite bleak - the polar ice caps are melting and climate change is disrupting earth's natural ecosystems.

However, although doomsday seems near, there are new movements rising up to make positive change. People are starting to fight for the environment. Like little seeds of hope in a dying tree, human nature – when truly inspired and driven for positive change – is a force to be reckoned with. Like the evergreen trees in a cold and dark winter, hope stands strong, tall and vibrantly green showing that life will find a way.

My project is about the seeds of hope and optimism for a better world.

Climate change movements that have inspired me include groups like Extinction Rebellion and people like Greta Thunberg, but I can also find inspiration in my own personal experiences. For this project, for example, I saw a huge, dead tree whilst walking in the mountains of southern California. The tree appeared to be dead and lifeless from a distance, but looking closer I could see that it had small sprouts of life within it. I was also inspired by my home in the desert - a place that is normally a representation of death and barrenness can produce little sprouts of greenery after a rainfall.