A Guam-born artist is gaining international recognition through animation, breaking geographical barriers and bringing CHamoru cultural elements to a global audience.
Tonya Dee McDaniel, a printmaking and collage artist from Guam, will debut her animated short film titled “åguaguat” at Kolaj Fest 2025 in New Orleans on June 29, following her participation in a virtual artist residency program.
The film, which incorporates imagery from vintage Guam magazines, explores themes of resilience and cultural identity – qualities McDaniel associates with both her personal experiences and the broader CHamoru heritage.
The Guam Daily Post spoke with McDaniel, who explained the inspiration behind her film’s title and theme.
“I thought about the way they had this breadfruit tree that grew in my grandmother’s yard. For a while, she wanted to try to cut it down, but it kept coming back, and it kept bearing fruit.”
The artist created her work through the Collage on Screen virtual residency program hosted by the Kolaj Institute and Kasini House, based in New Orleans. The program brought together 14 artists, scholars, writers, curators and animators from several countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Pakistan, Ukraine and Trinidad.
For McDaniel, who studied fine arts at the University of Guam, the virtual format of the residency made international exposure possible despite the financial challenges that often prevent island artists from participating in global programs.
“For the people that can’t afford that or aren’t able to get some sort of funding to back those things, I think these sort of virtual programs are a great alternative,” she said. “I was still able to meet people, get real in-depth conversations with them and connect in that way.”
The five-week program required significant commitment, with McDaniel waking up at 2 a.m. each Sunday to join Zoom sessions that started at 3 a.m. Chamorro Standard Time.
“It was just setting my alarm clock earlier and espresso that really helped me wake up at 2 a.m.,” she said. “I think being fresh up in the morning really helped because I was really engaged, even though it was 2 a.m., because I was just so excited to speak to all these other artists.”
Though she entered the program with minimal animation experience, McDaniel embraced the challenge of learning Adobe After Effects to create her three-minute film, which exceeded the program’s 30-second requirement.
“The biggest challenge was just learning After Effects, just learning any sort of collage animation,” she said. “Getting a little PNG to wiggle felt like such an accomplishment because that felt so daunting.”
Her animated short draws heavily from local cultural elements, featuring imagery of papaya trees and breadfruit. The title “åguaguat” references a CHamoru term her grandmother used to describe her stubborn nature.
“She used it in the way like, ‘Oh, you’re very stubborn, hard-headed,’ because I always used to challenge what she told me,” McDaniel said. She connects this personal characteristic to the resilience of the CHamoru people, likening it to “a coconut that was starting to sprout leaves in a place where it was not ideal conditions.”
During the residency, McDaniel found herself representing Guam to an international audience largely unfamiliar with the island.
“I was kind of the representation there, and I was so glad when I would tell them things that would inspire them to do research about us and about our history,” she said.
The opportunity to showcase her work at Kolaj Fest holds special significance for McDaniel, who believes it validates collage as a legitimate art form.
“Getting to be a part of an institute in this way, participating in their programs is great because I don’t know how many other zine artists and other collage artists on Guam have participated in something as formal as this,” she said.
For her research, McDaniel sourced materials from the Guam Museum, where she scanned vintage Guam magazines. That experience eventually led to employment at the museum.
“Now, one of my main goals is to learn more about my culture to more responsibly represent it,” she said. “So, that’s kind of the era I’m in now, the learning era.”
For emerging artists on Guam who might feel intimidated by new technologies or media, McDaniel offers encouragement drawn from her own experience: “Just kind of push on and celebrate the little victories, even if it’s just making a PNG wiggle, because that’s a big accomplishment in and of itself. Be stubborn. Just keep doing it.”
Looking ahead, McDaniel plans to return to her printmaking roots for future projects, possibly creating a series related to ancestral remains.
