This started as an experiment to see if I could map architectural and drafting visual languages onto a three-dimensional structure in Midjourney. A kind of reverse engineering of the traditional 3D workflow, starting with the wireframe and then figuring out how to render it into something visually compelling, especially if 3D wireframes aren’t your aesthetic cup of tea.

One part of the process was creating an abstract, diagrammatic style that wasn’t tied to anything overtly representational. I found maps and cartography useful in that regard. If you don’t know what kind of map you’re looking at or what it represents, it can read as a collection of beautiful colors and lines rather than instructions. Terrain maps in particular, with their contour lines, repetition, and elevation data, feel wonderfully abstract.

From there, I tried fusing that language with sets of abstract liquid forms I had been generating in another run. After enough button clicking, I started wondering what would happen if something more representational entered the mix, like a human figure. Slowly, bits and pieces of figures began to emerge from the goo.

These are some of my favorites from that process. I love how wild and strange they ended up feeling.