Using a combination of science, technology, and traditional media to explore new ways of seeing and creating, Ivan Toth Depeña combines innovative materials, custom software and digital fabrication methods with traditional media. He enjoys the dialogue and the unexpected output produced by the layering of machine and human. Depeña's production as an artist is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology, and design. Combining many sources of media, form and materials, Depeña seeks to blur boundaries and create projects that exist within a new and amorphous hybrid of various creative disciplines. His studio output includes (and often fuses together) painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, public art, installation and incorporates a hands on methodology combined with high-tech output and fabrication. During his residency, Depeña will continue work on a new major, interactive piece and custom software that tracks and records movement of moths and translates the movements into patterns of light and color.
Depeña's current public art projects and commissions include: Northeast Regional Library in Aventura, Florida; Reitz Union Expansion at the University of Florida Gainesville Campus; light rail station in Denver, CO; and several large-scale private commissions including a permanent installation for a cruise ship. He recently completed, Reflect, a permanent light-based installation for the 3,500 square-foot lobby of Stephen Clark Government Center in Miami. Using LEDs, custom software and special cameras that track the flow of people and record their form, Depeña’s monumental lightbox installation fuses with the architecture of the space, giving static elements performative qualities.
Depeña has been featured in several group and solo exhibitions throughout the U.S. including Aesthetics and Values (2011) at the Frost Museum in Miami and Miami in Transition (2006) at the Miami Art Museum. Most recently, his work was featured at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut. Depeña is currently a finalist for a prestigious Knight Arts Challenge Miami Grant for his proposal for a collaborative series of augmented reality public art projects throughout South Florida.
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