Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1995, Diego Dylan Bianchi (DDB) is a research scientist and visual artist with a passion for the hidden world of filamentous fungi, commonly known as moulds. With a background in Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology from the Universities of Turin and Milan, his work bridges the scientific and the artistic, offering new perspectives on fungi.
DDB is currently based at the Molecular Lab of the Botany Department at Trinity College Dublin, where he began his PhD in January 2021. His research focuses on the use of beneficial plant-associated moulds to support plant growth, enhance resilience to environmental stress, and reduce the reliance on harmful pesticides in agriculture. This work reflects a deep concern for the climate crisis, and through the study of applied symbioses, he aims to contribute to practical and sustainable solutions for a more balanced relationship between human activity and the natural world.
His fascination with fungi began during his undergraduate studies, when he encountered the ancient and essential relationship between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These symbionts were key to the colonization of land by plants, and they continue to play a vital role in ecosystem stability and agricultural productivity today. This early discovery sparked a lasting curiosity that led him to explore biological alternatives in agriculture, focusing on the use of fungi in the growing fields of biostimulants, biofertilizers, and biopesticides
His artistic practice began naturally during his time in the lab. As he kept discovering more fungal isolates, one Petri dish at a time, he felt drawn to document them visually. These fungal life forms struck him as strange, extraordinary, at times even unsettling, yet deeply evocative, often triggering unexpected associations within his creative vision. Though DDB had never practiced traditional arts before, his long-standing habit of collecting eclectic photography books had shaped his visual sensibility. Faced with the stark absence of compelling imagery devoted to moulds (unlike the rich visual culture surrounding true mushroom), he asked himself: how could such a visually fascinating world remain so overlooked? This question became a catalyst. Inspired by artists who had brought mushrooms, slime moulds, and lichens into the realm of art, DDB set out to open the lids, both literally and metaphorically, and let the spores spread beyond the lab.
What started as a side project turned into a pioneering work of fine-art fungal macrophotography, officially launched online in February 2025 under the name Fungal Galaxies. This project is still an ongoing practice exploring macrophotography, immersive video-installations, texture designs and paintings with living spores - all inspired by the natural patterns, shapes and colours of wild moulds.
