Artist Bio

Yeltsin Penado (b. 1990) is a Salvadoran American artist and educator from Los Angeles. His interdisciplinary practice encompasses machinima, sound, time-based media, writing, sculpture, installation, and digital art. He earned a BFA in Painting with honors and a minor in Community Arts Engagement from Otis College of Art and Design. He is entering the MFA program in Design Media Arts at UCLA.

Yeltsin uses video game engines and digital environments as artistic tools for constructing machinima, interactive experiences, and experimental narratives. His work examines how war and history are mediated through simulations, information systems, and instructional structures. Through these subjects, he considers how digital media shape historical interpretation, political narratives, identity, and ethical judgment.

His physical practice extends these investigations through sculpture, installation, and material experimentation. He is particularly interested in the relationship between physical and virtual forms, often combining digital processes with cardboard, found objects, and everyday commercial materials. His work has been presented locally and internationally through exhibitions, publications, public programs, and artist-led projects.

Alongside his studio practice, Yeltsin works as an arts educator and program leader in Los Angeles. He develops hands-on maker education programs centered on material exploration, creative reuse, cardboard construction, engineering, and accessible approaches to art and technology.