Nivaldo Santeiro. “Santa Luzia”. n.d.
Polychrome wood sculpture
About the artist
Nivaldo Gomes dos Santos earned the nickname Nivaldo Santeiro in 1984, when he began his career. After losing his job, he chose to carve wooden saints rather than move to São Paulo in search of work, as many north-easterners did at the time.
A resident of Ibimirim, in the sertão of Pernambuco, Nivaldo works with great attention to detail, and many are struck by the perfection of his finishing. To this day his work has been devoted entirely to sacred art. In a style he himself calls “advanced primitive”, his pieces are all made in umburana wood, characteristic of the Pernambuco sertão.