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At the Craft Art Workshop of Petrolina, there’s no use asking for Joseílson dos Santos Barbosa. He is known only as Pintor (Painter), and it had never occurred to him that one day he would become a sculptor. “I used to be a painter. I still enjoy painting canvases very much, but in order to make a living I painted signs, walls, I made mosaics, patina and antiques restoration (for an architect). But I wasn’t satisfied. I never learned how to paint with anyone; it’s a gift from God. I used to paint designs on motorcycle helmets, and it made me sad because people who saw my work didn’t think it was mine.”
Pintor was planning to move to another city but met Biu, a prestigious sculptor from Petrolina. “He taught me how to use chisels, and maybe because of my painting background, I started carving straightaway. It was a surprise to everyone.” Quiet and serious, he’s hardly ever seen inside the workshop’s warehouse. Whoever wants to find him has to go to a cashew tree in the back yard of the Craft Art Workshop of Petrolina. There, in the shade, Pintor shapes his feelings. “I’ve always enjoyed observing the horizon. I noticed that every sunset is different. They are never the same. That’s why I work here, I need to be able to look at the sky.”
That’s also why he doesn’t like to do commissions. “One person wanted me to make fruit. They said I should wait to make art when I was old, and that now I needed to make money, but that upsets me.” Life has taught him many lessons. “The world can be a much better place, and art gives us the freedom we need.” |
