2008
Vinyl paint on MDF
70 x 100 cm
A054 - 0314
Retired soldier from the National Army of Colombia. Joined a the age of 19, remained in the group for 4 years.
I lived part of my life in the country, scraping coca leaf. One would suddenly see a small airplane approaching, it would spray everything, including the people that were there..
The coca plants hardly dried out, and often they never even died. Yes, they withered a little, but after some time they would blossom again, stronger than before, and prettier.
The damage the spraying caused impacted everything, including staple crops planted by farmers to feed their families: plantain trees, yucca, pineapple. Everything gets damaged on the spot, and then come plant malformations, because the fruit borne from then on, was never the same.
Even water got polluted, it turned greasy, and would start oozing a greasy substance. Fish would die, if they were caught in stagnant water.