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 or resources he has available. From there, he makes it work, working independently on the artistic and technical sides of the project.
Biography:
A prolific artist, Balam has exhibited his new media artwork in fine art venues worldwide. Venues include the World Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science Museum in Queens, NY; El Museo del Barrio in Manhattan, NY; Bronx Museum of the Arts, 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.
Balam has received three “Editor’s Choice” awards from the World Maker Faire held at the New York Hall of Science Museum in 2010 and 2012. In November 2009, he was awarded the “Latino de Oro [Golden Latino] Award for Arts & Culture" in Connecticut; he has also received "Official Citations" from the Mayor of the City of Hartford, CT and the Governors of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 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 and co-owner of Open Wire Lab, both located in Hartford, Connecticut.