Jeanelle Estanislao

Unang-Gen
Growing up as an immigrant in America has sometimes made me feel disconnected to my culture. For the longest time I felt like I needed to assimilate to American standards and culture. I felt further isolated when there was a lack of representation of people like me in the media. Through Unang-Gen, I wanted to create work highlighting the Filipino-American experience and the many layers to it. I wanted to understand the historical impacts Spanish and American colonization has on Filipinos and Filipino-Americans today. Colonization has transformed our values, religion, language, beauty standards, and so much more. I wanted to know more about the conflicts Filipinos faced when they moved to America and how that has transformed our communities today. I read about historical events, interviews, and research papers. I reflected on my research by writing about my own experiences. This work illustrates the feeling of being in-between. I drew inspiration from the hand-painted signs in the Philippines and the unique lettering. I only hope that children of immigrants see a piece of themselves in my work and know that they are seen and understood.
jeanelledesign.com
instagram.com/jeanelledesign
designjeanelle@gmail.com

