Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat

Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat (born 1987) is a Dominican animator, filmmaker and visual artist. He sometimes goes by the nickname Tomatico. He is the co-founder of the short-lived risograph group “Hacemos Cosas”, and the collective film duo “Cine Chani”. He is a professor of animation in the Film department at Altos de Chavón, School of Design. Tomás is currently working on his first feature film “Olivia & the Clouds”.
== Early life and education ==
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to a painter mother and an engineer father, he has been involved in the visual arts from a very young age. After graduating with an AAS from the Altos de Chavón, School of Design, a Parsons affiliate, in La Romana, Dominican Republic in 2008, he won a full merit scholarship to attend Parsons School of Design in New York City. He received a BFA from Parsons in 2010. In 2013, Tomás was offered a 2 years scholarship to join Fabrica Research Centre in Treviso, Italy.
== Career ==
Pichardo-Espaillat began his career as a graphic and web designer working at Greencard Creative in NY. In 2010, he started working as a director for Music videos and commercials, including videos for Jim Lauderdale, Jhon Montoya and Operator Music Band. His first short film “ Línea Confín”, a 16mm & animation hybrid about the life of illegal Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic, got selected for the "XXVI Art Biennale of Santo Domingo". This project and his following short film “Dante” earned him a work scholarship at Fabrica, Benetton Communication Research Centre, in Italy. 
In 2015, he started working as an animator for TED-Ed youtube channel. Some of the projects he did for TED has been selected at festivals around the world, including “Annecy International Animation Film Festival”, “Raindance Film Festival”, “Quirino Awards”, “Anibar International Animation Festival” & “Havana Film Festival”, among others.
== Filmography ==
=== Short Films ===
Year	Title 	Ref.
2011	Línea Confín 	
2013	Dante 	
2020	El Regreso al Planeta M	
2020	East Kite Club 	
=== Video Art ===
Year	Tittle 	Ref.
2012	Astrolunar 	
2015	Malvao 	
2016	El Vendedor de Muchachas de Cartón	
2017	El Camino Interminable 	
2019	Short Stories about Loneliness 	
2021	Asterisco 	
== Selected grants, awards, and residencies ==
* 2014. "Vimeo Staff Pick" for Cumbia de Piedra, Music Video (NY, USA)
* 2015. "Top 5 Video of the week" for Facing Video, AdForum (France)
* 2017. "Vimeo Staff Pick" for Why We Go Cold On Our Partners, Video (NY, USA)
* 2017. Altos de Chavón, Art Residency (La Romana, Dominican Republic)
* 2017. "Premio Joven de la imagen", Winner 2nd place, Centro de la Imagen (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2019. SÍM, Samband Íslenskra Myndlistarmanna, Art Residency (Reykjavik, Iceland)
* 2019. Salón Bienal, Winner 2nd place, Palacio de Bellas Artes (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2019. Fondo Ibermedia, Grant for film development (Spain)
* 2019. Animation!, Honorary mention, Ventana Sur (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
* 2019. Concurso FONPROCINE, Grant for film Production, DGCINE (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2020. Fondo Común Convite, Grant , La Cooperativa (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2021. “Libélula Dorada”, Winner best Spanish Language animation (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2022. “Premios Quirino”, Finalist (Tenerife, Spain)
== Selected Exhibitions ==
* 2010. "Naniki pt.1" Group Show, Palermo H (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
* 2010. "Naniki pt.2" Group Show, 4 Gatos (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
* 2011. "Lumen_ex 2011", Group Show, MEIAC (Spain)
* 2014. "CharacterSelfie" Pictoplasma Anniversary exhibition, Group Show (Berlin, Germany)
* 2014. "CharacterSelfie" Museum for Contemporary Art MARCO, Group Show (Monterrey, Mexico)
* 2015. "Niños Héroes" Solo Show, Fabrica Features Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
* 2015. "We Never Left", Group Show, Fabrica Features Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
* 2016. “El Vendedor de Muchachas de Cartón”, Solo Show, CasaQuien (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2016. “Agujero Negro”, Los Chanos, Group Show, Centro de la Imagen (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
* 2016. “Inspired by Ecuador”, Group Show, Teatro Nacional Sucre (Quito, Ecuador)
* 2017. “Pictoplasma Academy”, Group show. Character Walk, Urban Spree (Berlin, Germany)
* 2017. “I see Colors Everywhere” Group Show, Triennale di Milano (Milan, Italy)
* 2017. “Now Playing”, Group Show, The Porch Gallery (Minneapolis, USA)
* 2017. “Leyendo con Fantasmas, Group Show, Galería Altos de Chavón (La Romana, Dominican Republic)
* 2019. “GLOF”, Group Show, Hafnarstraeti 16, (Reykjavik, Iceland)
* 2020. "Concurso de Arte Eduardo León Jimenes 28", Group Show (Santiago, Dominican Republic)
* 2021. "Illustrators 64", Group Show, Society of Illustrators (NY, USA)
Category:1987 births
Category:Dominican people
Category: Dominican filmmakers