By Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA, Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally. In this interview she talks with Digital Artist Des Lucrece
Des Lucrece, Digital Artist interviewed by Selva Ozelli
Tell us about your journey to becoming a digital artist and why you prefer the digital art medium over others?
My journey into digital art started out of necessity. I didn’t have access to traditional materials or studio space growing up, but I did have a tablet, a bootleg copy of Photoshop, and time. Drawing digitally gave me the flexibility to work from anywhere, to experiment without fear of wasting materials, and to iterate endlessly in a way that left no physical traces. Over time, those tools became more than a means to an end— they became an extension of how I think.
After earning my BFA with a focus in design, I worked in the branding world, but I never felt creatively fulfilled. On a whim, I applied for an artist residency in Tokyo. I didn’t think I was qualified, but I got in— and it changed everything. I lived with five artists from different backgrounds who were years ahead of me in their practices. Their advice was simple but transformative: Make what’s true to you and show it to everyone who’ll look.
That’s where the seeds for Des Lucréce were planted. I created the alias as both a shield and a reflection of my identity— a nod to my Vietnamese roots, my love of French philosophy, and the long history of artists adopting personas to carve out their own space. I started posting the work I’d hidden for years, and it found an audience.
Going digital wasn’t just a practical choice— it was philosophical. The internet, like my identity, is fragmented, contradictory, and constantly under revision. Digital art gave me a space where those contradictions weren’t weaknesses— they were the language.
Digitized Decentralized Identification seems to be the way of the future https://crypto.news/decentralized-identifier-systems-are-key-to-the-future/. Tell us about your latest series “The Erosion of Time and Neo-Techne: Art in the Age of the Machine” on exhibit at the Art Light Museum which invites audiences to explore themes of identity, displacement, and innovation in the digital age.
The Erosion of Time is my most ambitious exhibition to date— a fully immersive, 3,500-square-foot installation that blends animation, light, sound, and architectural scale to explore memory, cultural fragmentation, and the impermanence of digital identity. Exhibited at the Museum of Art + Light, the show is paired with Neo-Techne, a group exhibition that situates my work in dialogue with questions about technology, automation, and what it means to make art in a machine-mediated era.
Thematically, the exhibition builds on the idea that our identities— particularly as second-generation immigrants or culturally displaced people— are constantly eroding and being rewritten. We leave traces everywhere, yet feel rooted nowhere. The show uses a combination of celestial imagery, shifting landscapes, and meditative pacing to give form to this emotional terrain. There’s also a literal decay built into the projections— subtle loops where forms fall apart and reform, referencing both the fragility of memory and the persistence of digital traces.
There’s also a physical component to the show. I’ve created exclusive merchandise— plush figures and wearables— that extend the work beyond the screen. For me, this is about expanding Des Monsters into the everyday: they’re not just artworks, they’re avatars, totems, and mirrors of the self. It’s a way to let the work travel with people, and blur the line between art, identity, and utility.
What are your thoughts about the US Government’s latest focus on digital assets ? Will this help institutional investment in NFTs in your opinion?
It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, regulatory clarity could unlock more institutional investment, which would legitimize NFTs in spaces still resistant to them. It might make onboarding easier, open doors for museums, and reduce risk for serious collectors. But on the other hand, institutionalization often comes at the cost of experimentation.
The magic of web3 has always been in its chaotic, grassroots energy— artists creating with full autonomy, collectors forming intimate connections with creators, and value being driven by community rather than gatekeepers. So the question is: can we protect that spirit while building infrastructure that brings in broader audiences? I hope we can. I think thoughtful regulation has a place, but it should never come at the expense of the artist’s agency.
What other concepts will you explore with your digital art?
Lately, I’ve been thinking of Des Monsters less as a fixed set of characters and more as living philosophical agents— stand-ins for the contradictions we carry within us. I want to expand their narrative as a kind of evolving system: a cultural mythology that reflects our fractured identities, digital selves, and the roles we adopt to survive.
Critical theory continues to shape how I build these systems. My work is often in conversation with thinkers like Lacan, Zizek, Barthes, and Baudrillard— particularly in how they unpack ideas of desire, performance, and the spectacle. I’m drawn to frameworks that question how meaning is manufactured: whether through advertising, repetition, or the commodification of culture. That’s why I often play with game mechanics, burn logic, or collector speculation— not just as gimmicks, but as ways to surface the quiet absurdities behind value, ownership, and digital identity.
Moving forward, I’m interested in deepening that interplay between system and symbol— where the act of collecting becomes an extension of the artwork’s meaning, and the viewer is implicated in the very critique being offered. It’s not about making the work more complicated, but about making it more honest about how we engage with art, each other, and ourselves in a digital age.
Anything else you would like to add?
Just gratitude. I often say that my greatest achievement isn’t Sotheby’s or press coverage— it’s convincing my immigrant mom to let me become an artist. This career didn’t seem possible when I started. And the fact that I get to do it— on my own terms, in collaboration with collectors and community— is something I’ll never take for granted.
The web3 space is still young, still forming its canon. Being part of that is both a privilege and a responsibility. So, thank you to everyone who has supported my work and helped it find a home.
How can people reach you and purchase your digital art?
For collectors already familiar with digital art, you can find links to my active secondary markets at: deslucrece.com/links
To stay up to date on new releases, I recommend following me on X (formerly Twitter): @DesLucrece. That’s where I share announcements, drop details, and studio updates.
If you have any questions or are interested in acquiring a piece, I personally handle all my messages—feel free to DM me on X, or use the contact form on my site here: deslucrece.com/inquiry
Whether you’re a seasoned collector or new to the space, I’m always happy to connect.
Website: https://deslucrece.com/
Link to Work of artist and Avatar: Des images for MoA+L
President Donald Trump’s new digital asset strategy is detailed in the crypto report mentions the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (“CLARITY Act”) which is new legislation designed to clarify the regulatory framework for digital assets, including collectible NFTs (this includes Art NFTs). If and when the CLARITY Act is signed into law, the Act is expected to unlock responsible innovation, protect consumers and cement the US’s position as the global leader in the digital asset economy by drawing institutional investors to invest in collectible digital assets. Collectible Memecoins are already included in indexes by FTSE Russell.
In her second “NFT Series” exclusive interview for Irish Tech News, Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA, Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets asks digital artist Michael Zancan the reasons why he embraced digital art and NFTs.
The first interview in the “NFT Series” is titled Can blockchain help artists? Aleksandra Artamonovskaja.
The second interview in the “NFT Series” is https://irishtechnews.ie/digital-art-nfts-digital-artist-michael-zancan/
Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA is an international digital asset legal expert and author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally. Her writings are translated into 45 languages and republished in over 200 global publications. She is recognized as an expert media/TV commentator on global tax and technology matters.
See more interviews here.