The Settlement of Systems

Archived Series: Settlement of Systems (2006–2008)

The Settlement of Systems marks a transitional phase in the studio’s development, bridging early systemic abstraction (Nova) with later investigations into constructed environments and landscapes. Developed during a period of subject reorientation (2007–2009), the series emerged alongside extended engagement with digital environments—particularly large-scale, navigable worlds encountered through contemporary video games.

During this period, the studio also undertook a deliberate return to traditional oil painting at scale, using these works to teach and test large-format execution, layered composition, and spatial depth associated with Baroque painting. This combination of classical painterly discipline and digitally informed spatial logic produced works that stabilize expansive environments into singular, resolved images.

Rather than functioning as narrative science fiction, the series registers a shift in spatial perception. Spacecraft, architectures, and cosmic environments appear as engineered systems—expressions of how human ambition organizes vast territories through structure, hierarchy, and control. Within the broader arc of the practice, The Settlement of Systems documents the moment when virtual space and classical painting methods converged, training the eye to read space as a constructed continuum. Archived as a cohesive body, the series establishes a critical bridge between early digital perception and the later development of landscape-based systems.