| Alaécio Batista dos Santos, known as Laécio, was born in 1964 in Meleiras beach in Conceição da Barra. Like most of the inhabitants of the Barreiras community he is a fisherman. His grandfather, José Bento dos Santos, also was a fisherman and devoted to Saint Benedict. He used to sculpt a musical instrument (casaca) for the saint’s festivals, as well as boats, oars and needles used in the making of fishing nets. Laécio grew up watching his grandfather work. “I don’t know why it took me so long to start working with wood. I only started when I turned 30. I think it was when I saw a penguin at the beach. Such a funny animal! I tried to catch it and to take it to the animal protection services but it escaped. I went home, took a piece of wood and made a penguin. That’s how it started”. Now Laécio wants to live exclusively from his work with wood. His pieces are stylised and coated in paint and varnish. They have a lid at the bottom, are hollow inside and are made of a regional wood known as caxeta. “I take all my pieces to the association of craft artists of São Mateus, in the old port. I also sell them at the municipal market. You have to take the pieces there, but I have a motorbike, so it’s easy even though I live far away.” |
