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Antônio Pereira dos Santos is known as Antônio Passarinheiro (of the birds) and isn’t sure of when he was born. “I’m from Papanduva, Santa Catarina. I came here while still a child with my father, who worked on plantations. When I got my documents in Curitiba, I made up a date of birth and they wrote down 1942. Then we went back to get the papers for my father and we gave them another date. We had been already born, we only needed a date for the documents.” Antônio Passarinheiro’s father used to work with clay and wood in his spare time. When living in Curitiba (PR), Antônio worked as a carpenter, a handyman, a clock maker and a fruit seller. To pass the time he made sculptures with pieces of wood he found. “I made things with what I found lying around. We who work with art have to make our own space and can always create more. I started by making birds. They were small, easy to make, and people liked them. I learned by myself, it’s a gift from God.” He’s been living in Bocaiúva do Sul for 17 years, and now Antônio Passarinheiro makes a living off his art. “I also make decorated doors and coat of arms for families. My family helps with the painting and when I have an order for something big, like 3 metres long, I have three helpers. What I really enjoy is making the ‘visionary’, pieces with more than one head or things that I invent because they don’t actually exist.” |
