Anna Villalon

Anna Villalon
About Anna

Anna Villalon is a nonbinary Filipino animator, director, designer, and cartoonist. Founder of Annvill Studios, their work focuses on creating an off-beat and playfully irreverent storytelling experience that blurs the lines between viewership and participation. Raised in Pittsburgh and spending their formative years in Northeast Minneapolis, Villalon developed a curiosity about the way narratives are visually communicated through urban landscapes, especially the anonymous and taboo nature of graffiti. This interest contributed to Villalon’s own exploration of identity - Annvill became Villalon’s moniker as their cartoon series ‘Have U Seen Me’ gained traction on the internet and developed into a fully-fledged animation studio.

 

Villalon’s work is characterized by the recurring themes of identity and the constant pursuit of the self, the questioning of gender constructs and conformity, and the transformative capabilities of inclusive and multidimensional art. In their first year of design school, Villalon earned three consecutive publications for hand-printed textiles featuring original comics, influencing the trajectory of their garment designs to incorporate characters and stories developed through their work as a cartoonist and animator. The characters in their stories are often anthropomorphic animals, but Villalon’s first short-length film features human protagonist, Max: a Southeast Asian nonbinary teenager who stumbles across a peculiar lost dog while flouting the law. Creating compelling stories that represent nonbinary individuals in both the stories and behind the scenes is central to Villalon’s artistic pursuits. 

 

‘Have U Seen Me’ is an acknowledgement to queer folk who have gone through the hardships of not being seen or accepted for who they are. This project aims to challenge the misrepresentation and generalizations about genderqueer individuals within the fashion and film industry by working alongside other queer artists and providing the platform for them and their talent to be seen.

Anna Villalon's Have U Seen Me digital design.
Anna Villalon's Have U Seen Me exhibition.