Sometimes you just need to get away from it all. Did you have a favorite spot, maybe a tree, as a kid, that you could escape to? Imagine all the stories such trees have heard.

This piece tries to portray those levels of trust and security by layering family photos, letters, and documents, as well as handmade collages, and prints made from them. As focal points, I’ve selected a detail composition of a special door in Edinburgh and a gussied-up tree from the Netherlands.

Digital collage, 66 layers © 2016 Liz Ruest
From the 2016: Factors series