The first segment is a large wall installation, Self Portrait, Tree of Life, comprised of 22 glazed ceramic segments and text. This
installation is influenced by two popular motifs of the “tree of life” — one of the banyan tree used in Indian woven fabrics, paintings,
or textiles; and second, the earliest clay seal from the Harappan civilization that depicts two mythical creatures below the tree of life
(a peepal). Bhat manipulates wet and thinly stretched clay slabs on top of her body, using her body as a tool and using clay like a
second skin. The custom-carved stamps of peepal leaves mimic the block prints used on textiles. The autobiographical text
dangles like banyan roots and references the sense of belonging in a foreign land while still carrying the imprints of the trees from a
motherland.