Oscar Villamiel
Oscar Villamiel in front of his work "Cheap Medicine"
While pursuing his fine arts degree at the University of the East, Oscar Villamiel spent twenty years working as a set designer and business owner. To provide for his family, he found success in the shirt printing industry before turning back to visual artistry in 2006, opening a studio practice on that same year. Since then, he has been creating powerful art pieces that draw attention to critical topics, such as government incompetence and the effects of deforestation. Oscar also gathers tales. Concerned about the plight of those impacted by the Philippine diaspora (close to 9.5 million Filipinos lived and worked abroad as of 2010), he travels to crowded parks and locations around the world where overseas Filipinos congregate to interview them.