@mishipiku • mishipiku-art.carrd.co •
5 Questions:
1. My parents immigrated from the Philippines nearly 30 years ago, looking for greener pastures. They based us in one of the most diverse immigrant communities in Chicago, and from there I was born and raised.
2. My immigrant community comes from places across the globe, so my childhood was reasonably vibrant with stories of different journeys to America. From my neighborhood, I learned the most impactful stories of resilience, belonging, and identity. It is a neighborhood I deeply love for its people, its food, and its art.
3. Being fully raised in the US, I consider Chicago my home. Moving away for college shaped this city that I felt I outgrew to a fond family member that welcomes me with open arms whenever I come back. It is a city I staunchly defend whenever someone speaks ill against it, and is one that I strive to represent in my art through deeper dimensions.
4. As a first-gen American, I’ve definitely felt conflict between the life I have and the life I could’ve had if my parents never left the Philippines. When I visited the homeland and met extended family for the first time, this is where I felt the biggest pull of my identities. I think having surrounded myself with so many other children of immigrants, I’m able to reconcile these feelings by understanding that as “third-culture kids”, we’ve created an identity of our own. We are people of two homes.
5. I always state my artistic mission of making films that inspire a kinder world. I think growing up in a community where immigrants raised me, while being juxtaposed with headlines dehumanizing this group into statistics, I hoped to erase this dissonance and have every person be humanized. The immigrant community is such an integral part of my identity and my work, and so it’s become a dream of mine to bring that representation to animation and film. The biggest goal would be a 2D feature-length animated movie that puts a spotlight on an immigrant story. All in all, I hope to create work that my parents could see and be proud of.
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Bio | Art Statement
Schantelle Alonzo (Otherwise known online as “Mishipiku”) is a 2D animator and story artist finding her roots in the diverse immigrant communities of Chicago, Illinois. Because of her background as a half-deaf Filipina-American, she strives to tell stories of underrepresented communities and immigrants. Alonzo has been able to speak on representation on her own TEDx Talk, interview on NPR, and has had mentions in the Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, and Chicago Reader. Graduating with a BFA in Animation from School of Visual Arts NYC last spring with six short films, she wishes to tell stories that inspire a kinder world.
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First Winter, Animated Film; 4:32 min.
Catch the Moon, Animated Film; 2:00 min.
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Featured Artists | Akira – Light that Heals • Alejandra Lemus • Angie Zaveleta • Anna Silivonchik • Bane-xxa • Calayah • Catherine Economopoulos • Christian Joshua Varela Solis • Cindy Uriostegui • Darth Rudo • El Poeta • Grecia Solorio • Idil Duman • Javier Viñuela • Jimena Hernández Aguilar • Julia Obrien • Kaltra • Kybo • Lorena Salinas • Lydia Gunn • Mariana Perez • Mary Antar • Michael Azpeitia • Papaya Guayaba • Peauxline • Rita Garcia Šindelář • Roele Phantom • santi[ago alvarado] • Schantelle Alonzo “Mishipiku” • Scribe • Tai Kojro-Badziak • Toni Maugeri • Valeria Osornio • Victoria Park • Victoria-Riza • Yekseny Guerrero