Carlos Johns- Davila

Carlos Johns-Dávila is a Peruvian American multimedia artist, projection designer, and creative technologist whose work explores immersive storytelling, cultural heritage, and embodied interaction. Working across extended reality (XR), interactive installation, projection design, performance, and creative technology, he develops experiences that combine emerging technologies with historical research and socially engaged practice to create meaningful encounters between audiences, space, and narrative.

He is the founder of Way Too Far XR, a creative studio specializing in immersive media direction for public exhibitions, theater, and research-driven storytelling. His collaborative practice brings together choreographers, performers, artists, museums, and community partners to develop accessible, participatory experiences that prioritize shared authorship and inclusive design.

Johns-Dávila’s recent work includes co-designing projection and performance design for The Next TiMeS (2025) with Kinetic Light and Katherine Freer, an immersive contemporary dance work featuring dynamic spatial projections and accessible audience technologies. His interactive installation Illumination: Tracing the History of Black Economics of America (2023), commissioned by the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, visualizes overlooked economic histories through tactile stop-motion animation and digital interactivity. He composed the original sound design for Valencia James’ volumetric performance Suga’ (2022), which premiered at Sundance New Frontiers, and created projection design for IM Youngzoo’s The Late 故 (2026), a multichannel audiovisual installation combining VR, video, and kinetic sculpture to examine grief and existential uncertainty.

His work has been supported through residencies at Shangri La Center for Islamic Art, Culture & Design’s Immersive Storytelling Residency (2025), Jacob’s Pillow Pillow Lab (2025), and the HB Studios Theatre Residency (2025). Through each project, Johns-Dávila investigates how emerging media can deepen our understanding of history, identity, memory, and collective experience while expanding access to artistic participation.