Systems’ Garden

“Beauty is bound up with symmetry”
— Hermann Weyl (mathematician)
This series is a playful experiment that uses simple recursion systems to recreate new species of botanics.
I was always drawn to nature’s unpredictable, elegant textures and repelled by anything synthetic, so it was surprising to learn that such complex structures can begin with simple rules - a theory that has been toyed with in mathematics and biology for many years. With Systems’ Garden, I wanted to delve into the computability of biological structures whilst questioning our distance to technology.
The algorithm is based on the L-System - developed in 1968 by a mathematician Lindenmayer who used it as a theoretical framework to study cell growth. By using this well researched system as a starting point, I began experimenting with different interpretations and rewriting the algorithms until they produced something aesthetically pleasing.
Made using Javascript and its p5js library.
Exhibited at:
Jan 2023 - St James Hatchams, London
July 2023 - EVA Conference, Moorgate
Selected sketches:













