A SOUTH Wales Argus young artist of the year has created three imposing mourning sculptures to remember fallen heroes of the First World War.

Amelia Seren Roberts, 20, built the structures featuring stainless and rusted steel amid growing vegetation to reflect the industrial aesthetic of war and the passing of time since the Great War.

The convex and concave shapes of the sculptures symbolise the helplessness experienced by people after death, followed by a period of confusion and finally the acceptance and commitment of loss to the collective memory.

The Loughborough University fine art student unveiled the sculptures around 8ft in height at a park in the town to mark the centenary of the outbreak of WWI.

Her university said the memorial "offered a focus to consider the enduring sacrifice others have made for our collective good" as the world marked the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings yesterday (June 6).

Miss Roberts, of Little Mill, Pontypool, said: "It's about every stage of grief. In terms of psychology, there are more stages - It's a simplified version.

"It is more about coming to terms with it, making peace with it.

"I chose the human aspect of it, rather than the machinery that was used, especially because it was so long ago I wasn't alive so I chose an aspect I could connect with."

The former Caerleon Comprehensive student scooped a South Wales Argus Young Gwent Artist of the Year award for a striking self portrait in 2011.

She spent about two days a week for a semester to create the war memorial unveiled at Queen's Park.

She added: "It's quite a big task, it's really a serious task.

"I have to keep in mind how sensitive the subject is, be sympathetic to the subject and be sympathetic to the design of the area.

"I'm proud to have been invited to participate in such an important project, not only as I have gained valuable experience of delivering a public art commission on a high profile site, but also because of the importance of such a monument in the remembrance of an experience that continues to exist in the cultural memories of our communities."

Andrew Selby, head of Loughborough University school of the arts, said: "Using contemporary public art to re-imagine the First World War not only commemorates an important milestone but offers a focus to consider the enduring sacrifice that others have made for our collective good."

The sculptures will be on display in the park opposite the town's Charnwood Museum for the next 12 months before moving to another location.