Divine DNA: Cultural Representation as a Visual System

Divine DNA: Cultural Representation as a Visual System examines how cultural diversity may be represented through a coherent visual system rather than through conventional symbolic, geographic, or ethnographic models. Centered on Divine DNA (2016), a monumental painting composed of 249 unique abstract icons representing nations and states within a unified visual structure, the paper investigates the relationships between identity, representation, complexity, and systemic organization. Drawing upon the framework of Systemic Abstraction, the study analyzes how meaning emerges through organizational unity, interdependence, and organized complexity rather than isolated symbolic illustration. The paper argues that cultural identity can be understood as a relational phenomenon, in which individual elements retain their distinctiveness while participating in a larger integrated system. Engaging contemporary art theory, visual culture, systems theory, and artistic research, the publication proposes an alternative model of cultural representation based on relational structures and visual organization. In doing so, it contributes to ongoing discussions concerning cultural identity, representation, abstraction, and the role of visual systems in contemporary art. This publication forms part of the El Arte Monumental Research Series and develops the theoretical framework introduced in New Perfection: Toward a Theory of Systemic Abstraction in Contemporary Painting (2026).