If only we knew in advance, but logic only works so far. Some of our navigating the world must be from our gut response, because surprises will come, and catch you up.

Digital collage, 17 layers © 2025 Liz Ruest
From the Pretty/Angry series

This entire series has come from the gut, from sweeping gestures on crappy paper that just felt right. This piece in particular is built up from a wild & ugly collage of pinks, dark snippets of fonts, and horrific neon yellow scrawls. In scrolling through my digital catalog of options, a printmaking texture combine in oranges came next, covering most everything up. Another collage, full of darks and scribbles, adds back some value contrast on the edges. Another set of fierce scribbles on the left is immediately covered with a soft blue grunge texture. I sneak in faint geometry diagrams near the top, and finalize the layer stack with soft cream, diluting the marks for proper ingestion.