Smith knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist. The series of collages titled Memories of Childhood captures moments from Smith's past. The first work includes the many faces she imagined might have belonged to her mother, who left the family when the artist was two years old. Smith moved frequently due to her father's work as a horse trader, often had little to eat, and sometimes shuffled between foster homes, but despite these hardships, the collages recall dreams of flying above the trees and nights sleeping under the stars with her sister. The natural world permeates the memories Smith chooses to depict, as seen in the flora and fauna drawn, stamped, and pasted into her compositions.
