Amelia Smyth was born in San Francisco and raised in Berkeley, California, and has always had a strong connection with nature in all of its forms. Studying both Fine Arts and Chemistry as a premed student at UC Santa Cruz, she strives for a deeper understanding of herself by using the world around her as a medium for that complex desire. From annual world travels to week-long backpacking trips, she discovered a clarifying and calming self-awareness when assisted by the physical presence of natural spectacles. Uniquely human emotions too difficult for her to describe from her imagination in her oil and acrylic paintings are instead communicated by utilizing the complexities and simplicities seen within nature.
From an early age, Amelia has had consistent exposure to artistic creation with regular visits to the SF MOMA, Legion of Honor, and Kids Creativity museum as well as casual interactions within her grandmother’s living room displaying her own paintings over the years. Being both a scientist and artist is not new to her family lineage and she describes it as a way she understands a balance within herself; the subjective and the objective. Amelia began exploring the middle ground between her two passions and creating artworks centered on environmentalism in 2016 where her work was recognized and displayed in the David Brower Center in Berkeley in 2017. As of now, while she studies for medical school and develops a deeper understanding of how the human body functions, as well as drawing from her scientific research experience focused on natural products and their unique functions, she aims to create works that display a more personal relationship between people and nature.
