Alba Triana

artist statement

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 with non-human entities and knowledge in its broadest sense. 

I create 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. 

I develop analog techniques and technologies that render perceptible otherwise intangible physical phenomena. Computer coding allows me to “hack” such non-perceptible activity and to compose generative narratives and behaviors. State-of-the-art digital tools and ideas are present throughout my creative process. 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 to decode the unfathomable essence of nature and the complexity of all the processes that make us human

biography

Alba Triana is a Colombian-born sound and intermedia artist. Through immersive installations, sound and light sculptures, and vibrational objects, Alba’s work explores the relationship between the essence of the natural world and our human condition. Delving into vibration, energy, interconnectedness, and nature’s self-organization, Triana’s oeuvre probes how the vitality of everything, the alive and inert, greatly determines who we are and what emerges from ourselves.

Alba has received the Prix Ars Electronica Award (AT), Civitella Ranieri Fellowship (IT, US), CIFO G&C Award, South Arts Fellowship (US), and was the winner of awards in Colombia such as the IDCT National Composition Contest, National Electroacoustic Music Contest, “Otto de Greiff” National Contest, and Alliance Française Best Exhibition 2008. She has obtained commissions, residences, and grants from Pro Helvetia (CH), Kronos Quartet, Oolite Arts (US), GMEB (FR), and the Ministry of Culture (CO).

Her work has been shown at Postcity—Ars Electronica Festival, Lentos Kunstmuseum (AT), Centquatre-Paris, Biennale des Arts Numériques (FR), Orange County Museum of Art (CA, US), Lowe Art Museum (FL, US), ISEA—International Symposium of Electronic Arts, and Museum of Modern Art of Bogota (CO). Her oeuvre belongs to art collections in Europe, Latin America, and the US, including the Solo, Otazu (ES), Junco (US/MX), and Banco de la República de Colombia, Museum of Modern Art of Bogota (CO).

awards, grants and residencies

2024 Artfields Festival Grand Prize, Lake City, SC, U.S.

2023 Prix Ars Electronica 2023 Award of Distinction, Linz, AT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2009 Ministry of Culture National Creative Grant Award, CO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1995 National Electroacoustic Music Contest First prize, CO

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.

• Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Collecion, U.S.

• Solo Collection, Madrid, ES

• Otazu Foundation Collection, Pamplona, ES

• Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá — MAMBO, CO

• Banco de la República Art Collection, CO

• Mosquera Collection, Miami, FL, U.S.

• Junco Collection, Austin, TX, U.S.

• Harddiskmuseum Repository (online)

• Private collections in Europe, Latin America, and U.S.

selected group exhibitions

2024 Artfields Festival, The ROB, Lake City, SC, U.S.

2024 LOUTEK MDE, Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, CO

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

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

2022 Untitled Art 2022, Miami Beach, 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 Sculptural intervention, Sónar+D Festival, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, ES

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

2020 Otazu Foundation, 2019 New Acquisitions exhibition, Pamplona, ES 

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

2019 Altered States of Consciousness, Oolite Arts, Miami Beach, 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, FR

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

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

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

2013 Sonósferas, Odeón Theatre Foundation, Bogota, CO

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

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.

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, CO

selected concerts | performances

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

2019 Natalia Pérez Turner, Festival Interciclos, Querétaro, MX

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

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

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

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

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

2004 Contemporary Colombian Music, York University, Heslington, UK

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,), CO

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

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

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

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

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

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

1997 Suite Logique, Futura Festival, Paris, FR

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

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, CO

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

selected lectures | presentations | conferences

A. Triana (May 2024). Exploring Interactive Music through Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives, 2024 International Conference at National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, TW

A. Triana (May 2024). Sundown Rundown, Artfields Festival 2024, Lake City, SC, U.S.

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, Bradley Fall Etalks—Meet the artist: Alba Triana, MUD Foundation, Miami, FL, U.S.

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, CO

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, ES

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, MBUS - 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, CO

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

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

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

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, CO

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