Eliana Pérez’s newest book, Coca, is the second in her series about her home country, Colombia. It continues her evocative exploration at the bloody intersection of poverty, violence, and a global market economy, this time focusing on cocaine production and trade within Colombia’s borders.

A 24k gold leaf river bisects the cover, one of many scarce natural resources exploited and polluted to produce one of the world’s most valuable commodities.

Extending the accordion-bound pages forms a coca plant, speckled with blood-red fruit. The foliage is first rendered in verdant watercolor, then the dulled green of collaged US currency, and finally devolves into a white-on-white ghost of South America’s most revered and potent medicinal plant.

On the reverse, the red of the coca fruit stains through the paper, a reminder of the persistent, inescapable violence that plagues the campesinos, social leaders, and Indigenous communities. The final spread holds a short text outlining the impact of coca farming on the environment and the Colombian people.

The accordion binding allows the pages to be drawn out for display measuring 7′ 11″.