Abstracting Systems in Nature

What is a system in nature? How might that system be explored, drawn, manipulated, and expanded infinitely? For this project we were tasked with identifying a system in nature and exploring it for the purposes of later abstracting it. By abstracting such a natural system, how might that system then become infinitely expandable in all directions? These were the questions posed at the beginning of the project, and after exploring a wide variety of natural systems, I began exploring the system of Keratin scales that encapsulate and armor Pangolins. An overlapping and interloacking system of scales was identified and abstracted through drawings. Finally, a laser cutter was used to cut and score MDF scales that were later boiled, bent, and assembled into the the final sytem.