Biography: Balam Soto
New Media Artist Balam Soto Combines Art and Technology to Create Interactive Art Installations, Murals, Video and Performance
New Media Artist Statement:
New media artist Balam Soto merges existing and custom, digital technology with artistic concepts and aesthetics to create exploratory works, including interactive art installations, murals, art video and performance.
By merging art and technology, Balam provides a seamless interaction between humans and technology, creating art works that react to the presence or behaviors of individuals. A true “geek artist”, he first conceives the idea for a new project based upon an artistic concept - not yet considering the digital technology, resources or knowledge he has available. From there, he figures out how to make it work; this may involve developing a custom software or hardware or learning a new program.
Biography:
A prolific artist, Balam has exhibited his new media artwork in fine art venues worldwide. Venues include the Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science Museum in Queens, NY; El Museo del Barrio in Manhattan, NY; Queens Museum of Art in Queens, NY; Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art in Scranton, PA; the Centre Cultural in Brussels, Belgium; the National Library of Cameroon in West Africa; the Art and Technology Corridor at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, PA and Museum Miraflores in Guatemala City, Guatemala among numerous others.
In September 2010, Balam brought home an “Editor’s Choice” award from the Maker Faire held at the New York Hall of Science Museum. In November 2009, he was awarded with the “Latino de Oro” [Golden Latino] Award for Arts & Culture in Connecticut; he was also awarded an Official Citation by the City of Hartford, CT. In April 2008, Balam was honored with a Diploma of Recognition as a “Maestro,” a Master of Visual Arts, by the National Congress of Guatemala for “being a valuable and outstanding artist with international success.”
Balam is the owner of Balam Soto Studio, located in Hartford, Connecticut, to which he dedicates himself as a full time artist.