Painter in a hybrid, natural and artificial world. 

Paris, France.

Denis Santelli bridges classical heritage and technological innovation by hybridizing traditional oils with 3D modeling and robotics. His work navigates the boundary between the virtual and the real, capturing the essence of existence in a digitally saturated era.

Each project begins with the contemplative selection of botanical specimens—often ephemeral wildflowers or common weeds. Santelli is drawn to their lineage, their unique formal qualities, or the phonetic lyricism of their names, seeking a natural form ripe for transcendence. Once selected, these specimens are 3D scanned to create a digital double. Within a virtual environment, the artist performs a deconstruction through subtraction, translation, and scaling, composing a scene in which the flora is partly dismantled and reimagined.

After manipulating light and tonality to sculpt a new polygonal entity, he transfers the resulting wireframe onto canvas using a pen plotter. The final work emerges as a hand-painted oil layer superimposed over this mechanical skeleton. This creates a profound tension between robotic precision and the organic vibration of a brushstroke. By marrying the inherent imperfections of the painterly medium with the rigid geometries of the machine, Santelli introduces a sensitive poetry to our technological landscape. 

Ultimately, this intertwining of the mechanical and the natural reflects the tension between the preservation of the living and the datafication of life, revealing a conscious effort to find equilibrium within a digital world.