Francesco Seren Rosso is a self-taught artist from Italy whose work blends digital glitches with the beauty of nature. His art often features landscapes where the natural and technological collide, revealing the unexpected beauty in imperfection and decay. Francesco experiments with glitch aesthetics, intentionally degrading digital files to uncover meaning in loss, and incorporates collage techniques to layer textures and materials into striking compositions.

Inspired by mountains and forests, his work reflects on themes of impermanence, transformation, and the passage of time, crafting pieces that invite viewers to see beauty in the fleeting and imperfect.

We asked Francesco about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

I began creating art in 2018, at the age of 38. I don’t have any background in art, apart from the few hours of lessons in Italian secondary school, and I am very bad in drawing, so I never imagined myself as an artist. But one day, on Facebook, I discovered glitch art, I liked it and started researching any kind of information about that. It was a particular period in my life, and I realized that making art could become a great way for me to say what I couldn’t put into words.

What inspires your art? Are there any particular themes or subjects that you enjoy exploring through your artwork?

Nature, especially mountains and forests, is one of my biggest inspirations. I mostly explore themes like transformation, degradation, decay and oblivion, which are things that will inevitably happen.

If you had to explain your art style to someone who had never seen glitch art, how would you describe it in the simplest, most playful way?

It’s a practice that consist of re elaborate videos or images through “errors” or distortions that can give expected or unexpected results to make aesthetic pieces, sometimes abstract.

Can you tell us about some of your favorite pieces? What makes them special to you?

One of my favourite pieces is the one called the parrot (2023). It is an overlap of the branch of original image, while the bird and the background are made with a processing sketch, the first one then edited in Gimp. I like it because I think there is a nice combination between the elements. Another piece I like is the medieval tower (2019) It features a pixel-sorting effect with no further edits. I took the original photo myself, and it’s one of my earliest works, so it holds a lot of sentimental value. As an upcoming project, I’m working on video series regarding the degradation of jpg files and start to do more “analog” art, despite I already do collages from time to time. I also recently bought a graphics tablet, a device that I think I can use to enhance my creative process.

What’s the most surprising or bizarre result you’ve ever encountered while intentionally degrading a digital file?

I often encounter bizarre or surprising results, especially using audacity to glitch image files. In this case, you don’t have any preview and sometimes, I like to adjust the effects settings at random to see what happens, it’s a process that’s both chaotic and exciting.

If you could collaborate with nature itself — like a river, a mountain, or even a storm — on a piece, what would that collaboration look like?

I’d love to collaborate with a forest: it seems like a peaceful place but can also became very scary and dangerous. I’ll try to show that using sounds and projections onto the trees. A sort of mixture between land art and glitch art, capturing the fact a forest is always changing, even if it doesn’t seem to happen. And who knows if one day it will become possible?

Have there been any surprising or memorable responses to your work?

I was very surprised first time I was admitted to fu:bar festival, it was totally unexpected and I felt very emotional, and anytime I show one of my work to people I know and they appreciate it.

What is a fun fact about you?

In my 30s I was an avid darts player, I took part in many local tournaments and championships, I had also achieved pretty good results.

What else fills your time when you’re not creating art?

I am not a full-time artist, so when I’m not creating art most of my time is filled by my regular job, which is completely unrelated from art. I also enjoy playing disc golf, cycling and I’m also an active member in a couple of amateur futsal teams.