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Photographer turned visual artist Hayden Clay uses digital means to anticipate the world after the oceans rise. Imaginative yet relatable, these 3D renders provide a prescient reminder about the dangers of unchecked climate change.

As ice sheets melt and sea levels rise, cities inundated with water no longer seems inconceivable. Achieving widespread, effective solutions has proven challenging, as climate change is often perceived as a distant issue, not something on our doorstep.

American visual and digital artist Hayden Clay plays on this idea through his 'World Underwater' series. Following a trip to Venice, he was driven to explore the subject, fascinated by how The Floating City's sunken reality moulds its people and architecture.

Featuring digital 3D renders of ordinary settings in New York City, ranging from subway stations to movie theatres and diners, Hayden’s art depicts sprawling metropolises where life is dictated by flooded everyday encounters.

“The goal of the series is to get people to think about the future. I think the best way to do that is to have people think about their present,” explains Hayden.

“Each scene feels very familiar, but slightly off – exactly like a dream.”

— Hayden Clay

Informed by his previous film photography work using multiple exposures, Hayden's surreal photos mixed light from faraway places like Tokyo and Maryland. However, he turned to the digital landscape when his ideas began to outgrow his film camera.

“I had the idea of a flooded tennis court, which would later become ‘Summer Games’. I hunted all over Maryland but couldn’t find a tennis court I liked the look of,” says Hayden. “So I thought: why not learn how to 3D render it?”

While the nearly infinite possibilities of 3D rendering initially caused Hayden to feel an “overwhelming decision paralysis,” as he grew more comfortable with the medium, his newfound creative freedom allowed him to experiment deeper than ever before.

Alongside environmental concerns, Hayden draws inspiration from dream-like Studio Ghibli films and Final Fantasy games. His 'Swimwear’ series – a whimsical collection of transparent clothes – highlights how these dynamic interests collide in his work.

In particular, the piece Wet Laundry came about after Hayden learned it takes 2,700 litres of water to produce a conventional cotton t-shirt. Through futuristic visions crafted in painstaking detail, the dreamworlds Hayden admires “pour over into ideas and eventually surface as art.”

To view Hayden’s work, you can head to his website here. You can discover more about the positive potential in AI and digital art here or the intersection between nature and technology here on Urth Magazine.