‘The Ever-Changing Flow’ a Digital Diorama
The Ever-Changing Flow
Artist
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Getty Foundation — Pacific Standard Time 2024
The Ever-Changing Flow is a multimedia diorama installation commissioned for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles’ centennial exhibition, Reframing Dioramas, as part of Getty’s Pacific Standard Time 2024. The work traces five ecological epochs of the Los Angeles River, moving from natural watershed to urban infrastructure and into a future vision of restoration.
Selected through a competitive proposal process, I led the project from concept through installation, shaping both the creative direction and how the work was realized. The installation integrates projection-mapped 3D animation, sound design, and fabricated scenic elements to translate complex environmental narratives into an immersive, spatial experience.
In parallel, I designed the production framework that supported the work from idea to execution. I structured workflows across research, budgeting, resourcing, fabrication, and installation, aligning museum curators, scientists, fabricators, and media collaborators. I developed systems to track assets and deliverables, organized shared file architecture, and defined communication flows to maintain clarity and momentum throughout the project.
The result balances artistic intent with scientific accuracy and institutional constraints, delivering an experience that activated the LA community that is both immersive and operationally sound.
Exhibited September 2024 – September 2025.
Scene 1 | Los Angeles River, 'Paayme Paxaayt'
Scene 2 | Agriculture Boom
Scene 3 | Historic Flood
Scene 4 | Present Day
Scene 5 | Future Vision of Restoration
Art Science & Technology
To bring the projected backgrounds and fabricated foreground into a single, cohesive experience, I designed the visuals from a shared, eye-level viewpoint along the ridge—shaping how visitors would naturally encounter the work. The 3D animated scenes were rendered from this perspective and carefully corrected for off-axis projection, creating a subtle forced-perspective effect that opens up a sense of depth and an extended horizon within each scene.
Sound played an equally important role in the experience. I composed five distinct soundscapes that correspond with the visual environment, inviting visitors to slow down, linger, and engage more deeply with the installation’s narrative and context.
Pre-visualization studies were developed in close collaboration with Stillwater Sciences (ecological mapping), Mar Sorell (projection mapping), and Jet Olaño (CAD), supporting an integrated approach across art, science, and technology
The Ever-Changing Flow
It was an honor to active the Los Angeles community through storytelling and art; to share it’s history, discuss our impact, and inspire a positive future vision the LA River.