Wacala! Studios is a creative duo composed of Camila Montero and Ale Raigoza.
(fragmentation) (spectacle) (performance)
Montero and Raigoza met in an animation class at California College of the Arts and began their stop motion journey together through various short form experimental animations.
YUCK!
WACALA!
They have been collaborating since 2024 and have worked on several animated stop motion films, taking inspiration from their own lives, the items they collect, and the conversations they have. “Wacala” in Spanish is similar to “Yuck!” or “Gross!” and is used to express disgust and discomfort, which ties into the work they want to make.
The plasticity of the stop motion medium allows them to explore their Wacala! worlds through unsettling movement and imagery. As they continue to pursue their projects and develop their own visual language, they intentionally leave behind brushstrokes and marks visible on screen and explore a less polished stop motion aesthetic.
They are fascinated by contemporary animators Jan Swankmajer, Brothers Quay, Cristobal Leon, and Joaquin Cociña and authors Masaaki Yuasa and Satoshi Kon. Exploring similar themes of absurdism, experimental techniques, surrealism, and non-linear storytelling, they begin developing their ideas through long conversations and feelings of frustration over the dinner table.
Through puppet making, set fabrication, discarded items, and decaying traditions, they explore the art of disguise and what it means to reveal and hide in the shadows. They combine elements from film, theater, and stop motion to inform their experiments.
They return to the stage, shifting from the metaphysical to the physical as they explore the parallels between architecture and body inside the Wacala! World.
why they work together?
we work stronger together
Camila: Costa Rica/Ecuador/Miami, architectorture, arcade machines, films
Ale: Colombia/San Diego, textile, roller skates, life drawing
As animators, Montero and Raigoza combine their skills and add comedy into visual manifestations of their everyday thoughts and conversations. They relate in their experiences and perceptions of what it means to be second-generation immigrants from Latin America.
Wacala! is currently working on another film.
Visit Camila Montero’s website
Residency: February 2026 - May 2026
Art Exhibition: Friday, May 15 & Saturday, May 16 & Tuesday, May 19