Juan de Dios Leon

Transdisciplinary & Digital Artist  ·  Barcelona

My practice lives where disciplines stop talking to each other and I build the bridge. Graphic design, film, multimedia, 3D animation, live A/V performance — not separate chapters, but simultaneous languages spoken through the same urgent questions: who are we, where do we come from, and what do we owe each other?

Trained at the Universidad Tecnológica de México and the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, and with a Master's in 3D Animation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, I've spent over two decades learning new tools only to put them in the service of those same questions. Industry work has taken me to the walls of MPC — delivering character simulations for The Lion King: Mufasa, Transformers Rise of the Beasts, and The Wheel of Time. Exhibition work has taken me to the Athens Digital Arts Festival, the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City, and the pages of CAMBIO Magazine.

Two thematic lines run through the studio. Persona examines the construction of gender and identity — the masks assigned to us, the selves we perform, the gap between. Crossed Cultures maps the friction and generative energy that emerges when cultural codes collide, drawn directly from my own experience moving between Mexico, the USA, Canada, Germany, and Spain. Both exist as live performance, gallery installation, and collectible print.

My methodology is rooted in semiotics: I study the visual signs and shapes of the socio-economic, political, and cultural environments I move through. Each project becomes a reflection of that reading — through social criticism, denunciation, or symbolism.

Selected Projects

Industry

  • 3D Technical Artist — Barcelona Supercomputing Center High-quality 3D content bridging science, technology and design
  • CFX Artist — MPC The Lion King: Mufasa · Transformers Rise of the Beasts · The Wheel of Time · Atlas · Spaceman of Bohemia · 2022–2023
  • Art Director — Loen Studio Motion graphics, video & augmented reality · 2012–2017
  • Adobe Video Consultant Adobe Mexico · 2014–2017
  • 3D Animation Artist — Medabots Character animation for video games · 2021–2022

Education

  • Master's in 3D Animation Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona ·
  • Cinematography Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica
  • Master's in Multimedia Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
  • Bachelor's in Graphic Design Universidad Tecnológica de México

Beyond the Studio

  • Mountaineer · Cave Diver · Triathlete Nature as practice and as subject matter
New Media· 3D Animation· Live A/V· Motion Design· CFX Simulation· Immersive Installation· Concept Art· Gender & Identity· Intercultural Dialogue· Environmental Art