Peter Malabuyo

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Reflections Artist Spotlight: Peter Malabuyo


Peter Malabuyo  

Peter Malabuyo is a photographer from Andrus PTA in Idaho.

His photograph “I Mala-Belong” uses five peppers to represent his family and the meaning behind his last name. His playful and personal work celebrates the strength, closeness and fiery spirit of belonging together.



"I Mala-Belong"

Artist Statement:
"I took a picture of five little peppers in a group. My last name is "Malabuyo" which means in Tagalog a "group of little spicy peppers." Therefore my picture shows exactly five peppers (for every person in my family.) The pepper is really called a "labuyo." The "Ma-" prefix can be added to mean "many." So together the "Ma-Labuyo" changes to "Malabuyo" which is my last name. This represents Belonging because we grown together and if someone tries to take or eat one of us they're in for a flaming mouth."

Peter Malabuyo - I Mala-Belong



Artist Biography

My name is Peter Malabuyo, I am 11 years old, and I live in Idaho. I really don’t care what type of art I do. My dad is a photographer, and I wanted to try out his job for once. Last year I wrote a poem, and I competed for nationals. I was really surprised when I won state again and even more surprised when I won nationals.

My hobby is learning Krav Maga, and I guess I would say that I see art in fighting because I have always admired when people in movies have twirled their swords or guns or their weapons. It takes practice and hard work. I was really excited when I saw that I would have to do what people on TV do with swords in my martial arts class. To think that I eventually will be like those people.

Honestly, I am a “life” type of guy–I love nature. I particularly love animals and even more if they are wild. So that is why when I grow up I want to be a biologist. I also love water, so I would like to be a marine biologist when I grow up. 

Life really will make an impact on me; I think or try to think about what I will do before I do it, if it hurts the environment or animals. I sometimes forget this and feel guilty about it later. I do like creating 3-D ships or buildings out of magnet tiles but I am very independent and prefer to work by myself sometimes. I also like using AI to generate pictures and to see what I can generate.



Artist Interview

Coming soon!