About this page
This page was created specifically for the Bergman Estate artist residency proposal and is otherwise private. It is accessible only through the direct URL in my application. I am currently balancing my artistic practice with an established career in audio software engineering, two commercial creative projects, and co-founding a music-tech startup. As a result, my online portfolios are in an active phase of refinement as I organize my work and prepare to step publicly into the next stage of my creative evolution.
My portfolio showing previous work in computer science, audio, research, and data visualizations: https://www.ivana-andel.com.
My art portfolio is in development: https://ivanabenci.com (or by clicking anywhere in the upper menu of this page).
Project description
My project is a multimedia art installation tracing the inner emotional experience of technology's impact on our connection with ourselves and nature. It is a minimalistic, cinematic digital piece inviting the viewer to reflect, be present in the body, and, paradoxically, be guided outward - away from the digital. The work features original music, video projections of a female figure guiding with minimal gestures, voice, and non-performative presence, and possibly spatial audio for immersion. Ideally, the projected figure leads the viewer toward a door hidden behind a panel; as the panel is removed, the figure disappears, and the outside world is revealed.
Through this project, I aim to bridge digital, emotional, and physical worlds. While immersive art often overwhelms the senses, I instead aim to use technology to gently draw the viewer into a contemplative state through music and embodied storytelling, guiding them from inner reflection into nature.
Bio
I am an emerging multimedia artist with a PhD in Media Arts and Technology. My professional work to date has centered on music through the lenses of audio analysis, data, computational methods, and psychology, alongside extensive experience with sound as a researcher and firmware engineer.
I have always been passionate about creative expression in its many forms: composing music, capturing atmosphere through photography, and creating harmony and balance in my surroundings. I am drawn to expressing emotional complexity and subtlety with clarity, in a way that leads to peace and calm. What is emerging now is a more integrated practice, where these long-standing threads are becoming the foundation of my multimedia work.
While technology in contemporary arts often amplifies toward spectacle and sensory saturation, whether through generative processes or immersive environments, my work is centered on subtlety and restraint. Decades of computer science work instilled in me a sense of humbleness, groundedness, and a strong understanding of what it takes to build solid, lasting, practical structures. I now use my analytical skills in the service of a reflective, creative practice, aiming to build minimal frameworks in my art that allow atmosphere, emotion, and inner experience to emerge. My mission is to create environments where sound, image, and embodied presence converge to evoke a sense of stillness and openness, allowing the viewer to connect with themselves through contemplation and emotion.
This page shows artistic samples of my work across different modalities, unified by a consistent aesthetic sensibility. My next step as an artist is to create integrated minimalistic multimedia pieces, using the same voice across various media. The first multimedia project I am working on consists of 1) composing a calm, atmospheric piece of music, 2) designing and recording body movement and hand gestures to be projected on walls and panels, and 3) using light, sound, and spatial arrangement to deepen the contemplative experience.
Therefore, I show samples organized in the following categories:
1 - Atmospheric photography
2 - Music composition
3 - Voice
4 - Camera presence
5 - Spatial sensibility
Atmospheric photography
These photographs show my approach to capturing emotion through atmospheric light and spatial awareness. This same attentiveness will inform the visual elements of my installation work.
At the moment of this writing, they are unedited (except the first one, roughly). I will update the page when I finish editing them for prints.
Fårö, Sweden
Big Bear, California
Indian Wells, California
Novi Vinodolski, Croatia
Västerås, Sweden
Fine art prints in preparation
Samples of minimalist atmospheric photography.
Music composition
My compositions are atmospheric, introspective, and slightly cinematic. Although the pieces below are not formal releases, they share a consistent musical language. These excerpts represent the foundation of the sound world I plan to expand for my multimedia installations.
"Procession"
"Procession of the Rebuilders" - rising final motif from a composition I am developing. The outline, to be expanded, can be seen here.
"Devotion"
"Devotion" - Draft
"Chamber"
"Chamber" - Atmospheric draft
Sketching process
Music sketching process. I explore ideas on the keyboard before shaping them further in a digital audio workstation. The timing reflects the exploratory nature of the work.
"Becoming Airborne"
"Becoming Airborne" - A completed work from the early 2000s. Although stylistically very different from my current direction, it marks the beginning of my musical journey.
Voice
My voice is one of the atmospheric elements in my work. It has clarity, resonance, and a flexible range (A2–A5), which allows me to work across sacred, ambient, and minimalist electronic approaches.
The informal recordings here show the natural tone and expressive consistency I will use to create depth, warmth, and spatial presence.
Kyrie Eleison - Byzantine chant. Voice in a sacred, modal context.
This chant uses a non-Western modal system, which can sound unfamiliar to a Western ear.
The traditional version can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSyLtYAwTM8
The traditional version can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSyLtYAwTM8
Fallin' by Alicia Keys. Recorded during a voice lesson.
Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. Practice of a classical piece from the beginning of vocal training, included to show sustained high notes, natural vibrato, and resonance.
A Croatian folk song from the island of Vis, performed with a Croatian traditional music choir in Los Angeles. I sing the soprano line.
Camera presence
The multimedia installation includes a projected figure (myself) in a non-performative role. The examples below show my presence on camera in simple, controlled contexts - one from a professional introduction video and one from a commercial shoot I directed.
Professional introduction video.
This image was created for my commercial jewelry venture. I directed all aesthetic aspects: jewelry selection, background, color palette, lighting, mood, makeup, and modeling pose. (https://efinia.co/)
Spatial sensibility
Architectural photographs highlighting the aesthetic and structural sensibilities underlying my work.
