Cristal Buemi

Background

About Cristal Buemi

Cristal Buemi is a Puerto Rican-Canadian award-winning multidisciplinary artist (stop motion animation, video art/installation, collage and digital design). Her work pushes frame by frame boundaries by exploring the diaspora through land and its relation to the body, materiality and inherent beauty found in the minutia. Through a mindful, feminist, experimental, and ecological lens, Cristal focuses on abstract storytelling, sustainability and texture. Her works have been exhibited worldwide including: The New York City Independent Film Festival, Yonge-Dundas Square, Animac, Harbourfront Centre’s CoMotion Festival, Fashion Art Toronto, Venus Fest, Sommets du cinema d'animation, Cardiff Animation Night and broadcasted on AMC, MTV, BellMedia and HBO. ​Cristal’s diverse education and artistic practice both personal and industry based, have influenced her to become a flexible experimental thinker and maker. This method of practice has inspired her passion for pedagogy and exploratory creative expression through community art education in collaboration with various organizations and academic spaces such as OCAD University’s Experimental Animation program, Creative Users Projects, TIFF, SKETCH, TAIS, Big Brother Big Sisters of Canada, North York Arts and the Toronto District School board, both in person and online. Cristal’s teaching philosophy is all about an engaged pedagogy while creating safe, flexible and accessible learning environments. As a facilitator she has had the opportunity to work with participants of various ages and backgrounds by leading artistic workshops, talks, camps and courses to help advance their creative practices. Cristal most recently co-founded Frame by Frame, a research and programming initiative that through the magic of stop motion animation creates flexible and adaptive artistic opportunities accessible to participants of all abilities.