In his new artwork Vermeille, digital artist David Dessens  poetically depicts the summers of his childhood spent on the Côte Vermeille (Costa Vermella in Catalan) in the south of Pyrénées-Oriantales, with an underwater scene.

The Côte Vermeille begins with Racou Beach in Argelès-sur-Mer and extends to the Spanish border at Port-Bou via Collioure, Port-Vendres, Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbère. It is the place where the Pyrenean massif meets the Mediterranean.

While above the water of the Côte Vermeille is characterized by rocky coves, fishing ports and hillside vineyards, its underwater stands out with a lively sea life. That’s why the Côte Vermeille is a wild paradise for scuba divers, as well as for hikers. The richness and diversity above and below the water, and the fact that it is a natural wonder are the reasons the Côte Vermeille, the ‘Mediterranean shore of the Pyrenees’, has been inscribed by UNESCO on the tentative list of World Heritage number 1 since 2002.

Inspired by this wonderful place, Dessens creates Vermeille, an enchanting underwater scene, a hidden treasure, with a variety of fish and plants typical of the sea life of the Côte Vermeille. Vermeille shows how the underwater is as lively and fascinating as above the water in the Côte Vermeille.

With Vermeille, Dessens pays homage to the land where he was born, grew up and still lives, as well as to the liveliest, most colorful and most beautiful memories of his childhood.

Blooming Symphony is a generative and interactive artwork that immerses viewers in two perpetually evolving landscapes of vibrant flowers and lush vegetation. Each flower seems to grow and transform naturally, with the landscape constantly shifting in color and light. The visual experience evokes a sense of serenity, as flowers gently sway and evolve, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that draws from the timeless beauty of nature.

The first landscape takes inspiration from the floral fields depicted in Claude Monet’s "Poppy Field". The scene captures the delicate interplay of light and color, with flowers bathed in soft, natural sunlight. Petals seem to shimmer as the light changes, while the vivid hues and swirling textures mimic van Gogh’s energetic brushstrokes. The field feels both tranquil and alive, echoing the emotional depth of classical paintings while being ever-changing in real time.
The second scene transitions to a breathtaking sunflower field, drenched in warm, golden light. Inspired by van Gogh’s iconic “Sunflowers,” this scene bursts with vibrant yellows and glowing energy. The sunflowers, with their tall, sturdy stems and radiant petals, stretch toward the sky, symbolizing vitality and joy. The endless horizon and bright blue sky enhance the sense of expansiveness and optimism, creating a landscape that feels both nostalgic and full of life.

Secret Garden is a tribute to the highly influential French painter Henri Rousseau’s surreal masterpiece The Dream. Similar to Rousseau who once claimed he had ‘no teacher other than nature,’ Dessens pursues his fascination with Dame Nature and creates a desolate exotic scene, a hidden treasure with a vibrant palette in Secret Garden. All its components stand out to show the harmony, simplicity and beauty hidden in nature. Secret Garden is a story of spectacular and lively wildlife composed of different species, birds, butterflies, and various types of plants whose leaves constantly swing in the wind. It is a call to hear the songs of mother nature accompanied by the wingbeats of the birds and the whispers of the plants.

The panda is one of the most adored, rare and protected animals in the world. Though it was once facing a genuine threat of extinction, its population has fortunately been rising as a result of decade-long efforts. In today’s popular imagination, the panda is still associated with solitude, mystery, vulnerability and the close danger of extinction. One of its connotations is thus, wildlife conservation and protection of animal rights. However, the meanings of pandas were quite different in ancient Chinese culture and politics. Many Chinese emperors throughout different dynasties in the distant past considered pandas in relation to dignity, rareness and uniqueness, strength and bravery, courtesy, victory, good fortune, peace, and so on. China has also used pandas as a symbol of peace and goodwill in its diplomatic relations with other countries.

In his latest digital artwork, David Dessens presents this unique, enigmatic and precious creature, namely the panda, in an eccentric sense: Yin and Yang. In ancient Chinese philosophy, the Yin and Yang describe the two opposite forces: good and evil; positive and negative; light and dark; war and peace; fire and water, and the like. Dessens’ this artwork depicts this universal duality that exists in every aspect of life and nature in the form of a panda. Similar to the most known representation of the Yin and Yang, which is a half-black and half-white circle regarding both the dichotomy and interconnection of the two forces, the panda, with its black and white body, as well as with its nature both fragile and robust, both tranquil and resilient, is a demonstration of balance and harmony, of the Yin and Yang.

Digital artist David Dessens continues drawing attention to the significance of biodiversity and wildlife conservation with his latest artwork called Colo that is a local Aboriginal word for the koala meaning ‘our little favorite.’ As depicted in Aboriginal art for thousands of years in the forms of carving, rock/cave art, painting, sculpture and poetry, this time the koala is featured as the protagonist in a digital artwork through the use of digital means and latest technologies. In accordance with the sedentary nature of the koala resulting from its non-nutritive diet, Colo is a plain, serene and relaxing piece of art depicting a koala calmly sitting on a eucalyptus tree with a still night and a clear moonlit sky. It is Dessens’ latest artistic call calmly inviting us to think about how we can live peacefully, respectfully, sustainably and in harmony with other species. Only then, we can save ‘our little favorite’ which is our only place to live: planet earth.

Inspired by the great French impressionist painter Claude Monet and his Nymphéas series, David Dessens creates the Eternity Pond, which features two distinct scenes reflecting themes of nature. The first scene is a vibrant landscape of a water lily pond in eternal motion thanks to a fluid dolly movement. The second scene dives below the pond's surface, offering an underwater glimpse.
Following the impressionist movement’s primary philosophy that art is nothing but impressions, Dessens presents a cross-section of the impressions that nature has left in him and expresses his adoration before nature. The Eternity Pond is an outstanding generative artwork in which programming and algorithms are used as artistic tools for the creation of every element and pattern. Therefore, every time, a randomly and slightly changing composition of the scene, a vivid water lily pond depicting life above and below the water, awaits us. This also echoes Monet who once said: “For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment.” The Eternity Pond invites us to a lively and moving landscape that contains the water lilies and leaves floating on the water, butterfly koi fishes swimming in the water, frogs jumping from one leaf to the other and a dragonfly passing over the pond. While several water lilies occasionally open their petals, each koi fish appears with unique patterns on them. With the Eternity Pond, Dessens promises us a mesmerising, unique and vivid experience accompanied by the viewer initiated interactions.

Inspired by the Mediterranean landscape based on his childhood memories in the coastal Catalan town, Portbou, David Dessens starts his Beyond series by using digital means of generative art. One of the most nuanced and innovative genres in digital art, generative art allows the artist to utilize controlled randomness as part of his creative process. Dessens works with patterns of nature by using algorithms that make each artwork unique. Every element created by generative art randomly and slightly changes and thus every time a new scene awaits with subtle variations hidden in detail. In so doing, Dessens reminds us of the inevitability of change echoing the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’ famous words, “You cannot step into the same river twice, for other waters are continually flowing on.”
In Beyond series, Dessens presents three captivating scenes inspired by diversity, vitality and wilderness of the enchanting Mediterranean landscape and the memorial of “Passages” in Portbou dedicated to Walter Benjamin who was one of the most prominent philosophers and an inspiring flaneur of the 20th century.

Eyes comprises two different versions of a screen full of eyes:
the one dominated by black and white; and the other of blue
shades in reference to the eye amulet. In this contemporary
artpiece, Dessens tells us a story about humankind’s dark and
bright sides through eyes as the projectors of good and bad
feelings; our eyes reflecting sometimes happiness, sometimes
sadness, sometimes admiration; and sometimes envy and rage.
Eyes is also a story of today’s society in which it is almost
impossible not to become a subject to the modern forms of
surveillance. Eyes ultimately calls us to think about how our
very existence has unprecedentedly become dependent on our
visibility on social media, how we desperately need the attention
of others and how we have become digital voyeurs and
volunteer exhibitionists.