hayden williams envisions a bleak, dystopian 'world underwater' in shimmering, sunlit pink

digital artist hayden williams speculates a brutal dystopia through dream-like imagery with his series ‘world underwater.’ with each scene, shimmering and sunlit, the american artist glimpses into a bleak future of rising sea levels and climate change. familiar moments within everyday settings are rendered abandoned and overwhelmed with sparkling flood waters — all under warm skies and calming pink hues. 

all images by hayden williams

hayden williams crafts his rendered images at a meticulous level of detail, dedicating hours toward fine-tuning individual moments within the scene. in a conversation with it’s nice that, the artist comments on his process: ‘I usually have a very clear image in mind when I imagine a photograph I want to take or a scene I want to render… it took around 60-120 hours to render each image.‘ the style and focus of the work is the result of an eclectic and diverse skill set, as hayden has a background in biochemistry and computer science, and photography. only more recently had the creator shifted his focus towards 3D graphics.

the digital artist explains the initial influence and conception of the flooded scenes within ‘world underwater’: ‘the spark that ignited this series was a trip to venice. while travelling there I learned how the city is frequently flooded. it surprised me learning how venice prepares, defends, and inevitably repairs itself from unforgiving tides. I began to imagine, what if the rest of the world lived like this?’ with his focus directed toward sceptics of climate change, hayden williams seeks to provoke viewers to envision such a dystopia.