Paulistinha (imaginária)

Paulistinhas are small religious sculptures in clay or wood, made from Portuguese examples – they are typical of the production of sacred images in the state of São Paulo (Brazil) in the 18th and 19th centuries. I imagined a Paulistinha in which the violin told of the sculptor’s work. In a first stage, the opening piece (the raw wood being struck by the tools), in which the wished image is slowly outlined. In a second stage, the second movement, in which the image is made

clear, polished, painted. In order to shape my sculpture, I have used as a model an old church song written down by Mário de Andrade, derived from a Portuguese melody (in my “figure” the song is transfigured into the image I have imagined). Paulistinha (imaginária) is dedicated to the violinist Simona Cavuoto.