Alba Triana

artist statement

My work emerges from a deep interest in the natural world. It delves into omnipresent vibrational energy, interconnectedness, and nature’s self-organization. These fundamental phenomena, within both living and inert entities, govern all levels of the natural structure —from atomic particles to biological elements, to society and the stars—and greatly determine who we are and what we manifest.

My artistic quest has led me to understand the natural world as an indivisible whole that is intrinsically active, interconnected, ever-evolving, and self-organized. It suggests that our human condition is an expression of nature.

Thus, I approach my practice holistically, engaging in experimental, technological, and cross-disciplinary creative methods. Outside the predominant narratives in music, sound, and the visual arts, I propose a line of inquiry that links human and non-human, alive and inert, and knowledge in its broadest sense.

I create analog, real-world environments that expand our physical experience by unveiling the natural vibrational activity of objects and spaces audibly and visually. These works include immersive multi-sensory installations, sound and light sculptures, and vibrational objects. They employ vibration and other energy phenomena as primordial materials, approaching their diverse perceptual manifestations in a unified fashion, blending music, installation, sculpture, and performance.

As in the natural world, my artworks tend to be self-generating and evolving. Statistics and probabilities set the identity and functional parameters in each work. This allows for innumerable globally determined outcomes.

Informed by AR and AI, I develop analog techniques and technologies that render perceptible otherwise invisible and intangible phenomena—without using digital simulations. Computer coding allows me to “hack” such non-perceptible activity and to compose probabilistic and generative narratives and behaviors.

Although these artworks are analog, they couldn’t be produced before the digital era. State-of-the-art digital tools and ideas are present throughout my creative process— from conception and experimentation to execution. New, old, and DIY technologies coalesce in my creative process, making technology the context, tool, and by-product that gives rise to my poetic interpretation of nature.

By advancing art not only as a form of expression but also as a powerful form of knowledge, I aspire to contribute to the historical quest of decoding the natural world and what it means to be human. Using art, I hope to provide unique insight into the unfathomable essence of nature and the complexity of all the processes that make us human.

I also hope to help reformulate the nature-human relationship, resituating humanity within the natural world, rather than outside it. This is indispensable to overcome the anthropocentric paradigm and critical socio-cultural issues threatening us and our home.

Through the contemplation of nature at a primordial level, I seek to induce a state of awe and a profound identification with the fundamental elements that animate and unite us. Connecting with our essence—the very essence of everything—has an expansive effect on our consciousness. It helps us recognize our role and position within this world and modulate our attempts at mastery and domination.

download CV

biography

Alba Triana is a Miami-based composer and sound artist. She employs analog and digital technologies to explore the natural world's fundamental structure and its manifestation through human constructions like art and music. 

Alba has received the Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction (AT), Civitella-Ranieri Fellowship (IT/US), CIFO G&C Award, South Arts Fellowship (US). Her work has been showcased at Lowe Art Museum (US), Ars Electronica Festival (AT), NEMO—Biennale des Arts Numériques (FR), ISEA—International Symposium of Electronic Arts (WW), and Sónar+D (ES). Commissions, residences, and grants include Oolite Arts, Kronos Quartet (US), Pro-Helvetia (CH), Institut de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges (FR), and Ministry of Culture (CO).

Alba’s work is in art collections, including CIFO, Mosquera, Junco (US), Otazu Foundation, Solo (ES), and Banco de la República (CO).

Alba holds a double Master's in Composition New Media/Integrated Media from the California Institute of the Arts (US).

awards, grants and residencies

2023 Prix Ars Electronica 2023 Award of Distinction, Linz, Austria.

2023 CIFO—Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grants & Commissions Award.

2022 Colección Solo Acquisition Prize. Untitled Art 2022, Miami Beach, FL, US.

2022 CIFO—Ars Electronica Award Nominee, U.S., Austria

2022 Knight Art+Tech Fellowship nominee, U.S.

2020 South Arts State Fellowship, FL, U.S.

2020 EOFA—Embassy of Foreign Artists Artistic Residency, Geneva, Switzerland

2018-2020 Pro Helvetia | Swiss Arts Council, Cultural Exchanges Program, Switzerland

2018-2019 Oolite Arts (formerly ArtCenter South Florida) Artistic Residency, U.S.

2018 Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, worldwide award, U.S., Italy

2011 Art and Culture Center of Hollywood Fifth Biennial Honorable mention, Hollywood, FL, U.S.

2009 Ministry of Culture National Creative Grant Award, Colombia

2008 Alliance Française Bogotá Best Exhibition of the Year Award, Colombia

2007 Bank of the Republic of Colombia Homage to her artistic production, Colombia

2001 FONCA Mexico | Ministry of Culture International Artistic Residencies Award, Colombia

2000 CalArts Creative Grant Award, Valencia, CA, U.S.

1998 “Otto de Greiff” National Contest First prize, Colombia

1998 Ministry of Culture National Creative Grant Award, Colombia

1997 National Composition Contest First prize, IDCT, Colombia

1997 L’Institut International de Musique Électroacoustique Artistic residency award, Bourges, France

1996 L’Institut International de Musique Électroacoustique Artistic residency award, Bourges, France

1995 National Electroacoustic Music Contest First prize, Colombia

1993 National Music Council Honorable mention, Colombia

1993 Colcultura National Prizes Honorable mention, Colombia

selected commissions | collections

2023 Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Vibrant Self, Miami, FL, U.S.

2016 Kronos Quartet, Music for Four Resonators, San Francisco, CA, U.S.

2013 UCLA, Institute for the Research in the Arts, Body Music, Los Angeles, CA U.S.

2001 American Composers Forum, Noneto, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.

selected group exhibitions

2023 Archivos Atómicos, Harddkismusem El Parqueadero, Bogotá, CO

2023 Viceversa: posiciones y perspectivas de una colección. 60 años del MAMBO, Bogotá, CO

2023 Prix Ars Electronica 2023, Postcity, Ars electronica Festival 2023, Linz, AT

2023 Dualities in equalities, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Ars electronica Festival 2023, Linz, AT

2023 Southern Voices/Global Visions, The ROB, Lake City, SC, U.S.

2023 El día que el universo cambió, Galería Max Estrella, Madrid, ES

2023 The BluPrnt Show, Bridge Red Studios, Miami, Fl, U.S.

2022 Media Under Dystopia 3.0: WASD, MUD Foundation,
Miami, FL, U.S.

2022 Untitled Art 2022, Miami Beach, Fl, U.S.

2022 Unseen Highlights from the Untitled Art Nest Sector, Untitled Art + Vortic Art

2022 Concerning the Spiritual: Selections from the Mosquera collection, Saladrigas Gallery, Miami, FL, U.S.

2022 freq_wave (Pacific; Los Angeles), 2022 Fulcrum Festival, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.

2022 Beyond the Sound of Silence, Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Fl, U.S.

2021 Media Under Dystopia 2.0, MUD Foundation, Miami, FL, U.S.

2020 Pinta Miami virtual, The Modern & Contemporary Latin American Art Show, Miami, FL, U.S.

2020 Transversal, Casa Hoffmann, Bogota, Colombia

2020 Sculptural intervention, Sónar+D Festival, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, Spain

2020 ArtBo, International Art Fair, Casa Hoffman, Bogotá, Colombia

2020 South Arts 2020 Southern Price & State Fellows Exhibition, The Bo Barlett Center, Georgia, U.S.

2019 Pinta Miami – Crossing Cultures, Mana Wynwood, Miami, FL, U.S. 

2019 La fábula de Aracne, 45 Salón Nacional de Artistas, UTadeo Art Museum, Bogota, Colombia

2019 Altered States of Consciousness, Oolite Arts, Miami Beach, FL, U.S.

2019 Primitivo, Casa Hoffmann, Bogota, Colombia

2018 Voltaje - Art and Technology Salon | Feria del Millón, Centro Creativo Textura, Bogota, Colombia

2018 RAW Pop Up, The Moore Building, Miami, FL, U.S.

2018 Between a view and a milestone, ArtCenter South Florida, Miami Beach, FL, U.S.

2017 Les Faits du hasard, Némo - Biennale Internationale des Arts Numériques | 104 Le Centquatre-Paris, Paris, France

2017 ISEA, International Symposium on Electronic Art, Manizales, Colombia

2016 International Art Fair, ArtBo, Bogota, Colombia

2015 International Art Show, Scope, Miami Beach, FL, U.S.

2015 III Points Festival, Wynwood Warehouse Project, Miami, FL, U.S.

2015 Voltaje | Feria del Millón, Art and Technology Salon, Bogota, Colombia

2015 V2B, Art and Technology Salon, National Library, Bogota, Colombia

2015 Seventh All Media Juried Biennial, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL, U.S.

2013 Sonósferas, Odeón Theatre Foundation, Bogota, Colombia

2011 Sound Art in Colombia, Los Andes University, Bogota, Colombia

2011 Fifth All Media Juried Biennial, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL, U.S.

2010 Vociferous, Diapason Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.

2010 Trayectorias de la Luz, Espacio Alterno Gallery, Sede Uniandinos Bogota, Colombia

2003 Trimpin: Klavier Nonette, Jack Straw Productions New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA, U.S.

2001 You are Hear, Eclectic Orange Festival | Orange County Museum of Art, CA, U.S.

1997 Una Mirada Expuesta, National University Museum, Bogota, Colombia

selected concerts | performances

2021-2022 The Music of Things, Botero Delgado Duo, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá—MAMBO, Colombia

2019 Natalia Pérez Turner, Festival Interciclos, Querétaro, México

2017 Kronos Quartet, Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santodomingo, Bogota, Colombia

2014 XI International Contemporary Music Festival, Cultural Park, Valparaiso, Chile

2014 CMMAS - Mexican Center for Music and Sound Art, Morelia, Mexico

2013 Recital de Pian, XXII International Festival Zilele Muzicii Noi, Chisinau, Moldova

2007 Monographic Concert, The Composer and Her Work, Luis Ángel Arango Library, Bogota, Colombia

2007 Compositores Javerianos III, Luis Ángel Arango Library, Bogota, Colombia

2004 Contemporary Colombian Music, York University, Heslington, England

2003 DeciBelio in Concert, American Theatre, Bogota, Colombia

2003 Colón Electrónico, Colon Theatre, Bogota, Colombia

2003 Women's International Listening Room, California State University, Fullerton, CA, U.S.

2002 Desde el Sur, IDB - Inter-American Development Bank, Washington D.C., U.S.2001 College Music Society Composers, College Music Society Annual Meeting, Santa Fe, NM, U.S.

2001 Soundscape, Evening on the Roof, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.

2001-1992 International Festival of Contemporary Music (versions: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII,), Colombia

2001 Performance Art, Heart Piece, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, U.S.

1999 Sound Event, Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogota, Colombia

1999 End of the Millennium Colombian Composers, Luis Ángel Arango Library, Bogota, Colombia

1998 Performance Art, A la Mesa, Cerro Monserrate, Bogota, Colombia

1997 Performance Art, Una Jugada de Dados, Colon Theater, Bogota, Colombia

1997 Concert des Fédérations Nationales de France et de Colombie, Synthèse Festival, Bourges, France

1997 Suite Logique, Futura Festival, Paris, France

1996 Young Colombian Composers, Colombo-American Center, Bogota, Colombia

education

2003 UC San Diego Ph.D. studies scholarship, CA, U.S.

2002 Ph.D. studies, Music Composition, University of California, San Diego, CA, U.S., Professors:  Chaya Czernowin, Roger Reynolds, Chinary Ung, Rand Steiger

2001 MFA, double degree, Composition New Media | Integrated Media, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, U.S., Professors: James Tenney, Stephen Mosko, Daniel Rothman, Sara Roberts

2000 CalArts Graduate studies scholarship, Valencia, CA, U.S.

1999 Fulbright Commission Graduate studies scholarship, U.S.

1999 Mazda Foundation Graduate studies scholarship, Colombia

1997 BFA, Merit and Academic Excellence Distinction, Music Composition, Javeriana University, Bogota, Colombia, Professor: Guillermo Gaviria

1995 Music Composition Advanced Certificate Program, National Center of the Arts, Mexico D. F., Mexico, Professors: Stefano Scodanibbio, Franco Donatoni, Mario Lavista, Javier Álvarez

selected lectures | presentations | conferences

A. Triana (January 2024). Locust Late at the DiLL, Locust Projects, Miami, FL, U.S.

A. Triana, A. Remy Toledo, J. Cortés, J. Rommel (September 2023). Prix Forum, Ars Electronica 2023 – Digital Musics & Sound Art, Linz, AT

A. Triana, A. Herrera, R. Peña (2022, September). In Conversation: Dr. Adriana Herrera, Rolando Peña, and Alba Triana, University of Miami Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL, U.S.

A. Triana (2021, August). Conversación al Sur, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá – MAMBO, Bogotá, Colombia

A. Triana (2021, September). Pop Up Lab with Alba Triana, PEER Lab, Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA, U.S.

A. Triana (2020, October). Conversation on Art and Science, Coincidencia/Pro Helvetia, takeover live event 

A. Triana (2020, September). Keynote, New Spaces for the Irradiation of Sound, Sónar+D, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

A. Triana (2020, September). About the origin, panel discussion, Suratómica Festival, live event 

A. Triana (2020). Keynote, Resistance at the End of the World, Symposium, Miller Institute for Contemporary Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.

A. Triana (2019, March). Art Talks, Miami Beach Urban Studios - Florida International University, Miami Beach, FL, U.S.

A. Triana, R. Frehling, G. Matamoros, R. Barge, E. Bobb (2018, June). Symposium, Sound Art/South Beach, Audiotheque - ArtCenter SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL, U.S.

A. Triana (2017, June). Keynote, Everything Boils Down to Vibrations, International Symposium on Electronic Art - ISEA, Manizales, Colombia

A. Triana (2017, May). Lecture, Alba Triana and Her Work, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia

A. Triana, J. Cerda (2017, April). Panel, Sound Art, Universidad Antonio Nariño, Bogota, Colombia

A. Triana, M. Galeano, G. Gaviria (2017, April). Panel, Discussion on Contemporary Composition, Teatro Colón, Bogota, Colombia

A. Triana (2016, November). Lecture, Alba Triana and Her Work, Florida International University, Miami-Dade County, FL, U.S.

A. Triana (2015, October). Lecture, Alba Triana and Her Work, Art and Technology Salon - Voltaje, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

A. Triana (2015, March). Lecture, Sound Mass and the Sonic Sciences, Listening Club, Miami, FL, U.S.

A. Triana (2014, April). Lecture, Concrete to Abstract, Listening Club, Miami, FL, U.S.

teaching or related experience

2023 New Music USA, Creator Fund Review Panelist, US

2019 FETA prize in sound art Juror, U.S.

2012 - 2020 South Florida Composers Alliance Member of the Executive Board of Directors, Miami, FL, U.S.

1998 - 1999 Ministry of Culture Art Department Advisor Bogota, Colombia

2008 National Artistic Residences Awards Juror, Ministry of Culture, Colombia

2006 National Composition Awards Juror, Ministry of Culture, Colombia

1998 National Musical Band Contest Juror, Ministry of Culture, Colombia 

1997 - 1998 Music Theory and Composition Professor, Javeriana University, Bogota, Colombia

1997 National Pedagogic University Music Theory Director and Professor, Bogota, Colombia