Ivan Toth Depeña is an interdisciplinary artist who is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology, and design. His work explores new ways of seeing, and creating through the dynamic integration of custom software and digital fabrication methods with traditional materials such as wood and steel. Depeña’s large-scale commissions transform public spaces into colorful landscapes that invite play and wonder. These interactive projects offer a one-to-one response to viewers’ actions, providing an ever-evolving spatial and visual experience. During his Winter 2014 residency at McColl Center, Depeña partnered with Discovery Place, Inc. to create a visitor experience that transformed their silhouettes into digitally ‘painted’ renditions captured in Vincent Van Gogh’s infamous style.
Ivan Toth Depeña earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami in 1995 and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University in 1998. His innovative work has received numerous grants including the SFCC Visual + Media Artist Fellowship Grant Award in 2008, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in 2009, the Public Art Year in Review Award from the National Public Art Network in 2012, and funding through the Knight Arts Challenge Miami Grant in 2013 for a series of collaborative art projects that utilized custom software to create virtual interventions in public spaces.