Carlos initially studied Art Direction, a career more focused on publicity, in his native Santiago, Chile. Right out of school the urge to become an artist, in particular a photographer, took hold. “Why [copy] objects with a pencil when I can do it perfectly with a camera?¨ the artist asked himself one day while drawing in the design studio. The camera would soon become his main medium. Years of world travel in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Pakistan, India, Haiti, South Africa and Mexico, the list goes on, helped to fortify the story Villalon would come to tell with his art practice. Today, his work explores the nature of our times in relationship to Coca – both sacred plant and Cocaine (including the nearly 50-year-long failed war on drugs.) “Certain plants can heal or destroy men, depending on the use you give them,” explains Villalon. “I think is important to let people know about these issues, so later on they can make wise decisions regarding these themes.” This body of work includes photographs he has shot in the regions of The Americas, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and The United States. Some of his greatest artistic challenges arise in the presentation of his work; for instance, foregrounding his personal vision and visual statemq1ent in a way that can be truly received by viewers and the communities these issues affect. He is now in the midst of printing a book called “Coca The Lost War,” a collection of some 16 years worth of work. The book’s implicit message is this: “Coca plants are sacred to many in the Americas, but also they render Cocaine, a powerful drug that changes the lives of people for good or bad… the war on drugs is lost and we need to come up with alternatives to create a world with safer drug control assumed by the states across the world.” He’s nearly a quarter of the way in crowd-funding this project, and you can get involved here. Moving forward, he’s planning to retake on another long-term initiative focused on the immigration issues surrounding the Darien gap, “the infamous Colombian, Panamanian border where thousands of immigrants from Africa, South East Asia and Latin America go every year in order to cross from South America to Central America and then keep on towards the USA.” In telling this story visually with photography, Carlos is able to bring attention to a place that for many resembles a type of hell, where hopeful migrants fall prey to swamps swarmed with mosquitoes and armed drug trafficking groups.
https://igg.me/at/cocathelostwar
Follow him on Instagram @villalonsantamaria